New Life
by blueshellman
Summary: Jack's town is safe and secure. But a reckless decision may become his last. He needs help, and salvation may come in the form of a little girl. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Trapped

Chapter 1: Trapped

Jack has been walking for quite some time now. Staring into the distance while letting his legs do the job. He has turned this into some sort of routine.

The town was secured. There wasn't a soul in the whole place, just him.

He arrived this place a few weeks ago and, having no desire to keep moving, decided to stay. The place itself was pretty small, no more than a couple of hundreads could have lived here before the outbreak.

This town was the best thing that happened to him in a while. For some reason hunters or infected haven't found it in the twenty-ish years this shit's been lasting. The only residents before him seemed to be the old bones in the porch of the biggest house in town, right in the middle of the main street. Before the outbreak the inhabitants of the town used that house for storage purposes, box after box of medicine, canned food and other mischelaneous goods where in there, a not so hidden treasure.

Jack rached the edge of the town."yep, still just me here" he murmured. He was bored. Patroling this place was turning into a chore. No one else in the whole universe seemed to know about this place's existance. Why he should expect that to change?.

Then he took the decision to walk a little further, break the routine a little bit. He reached the treeline and stopped again. He was forgetting something. A loud bang reached his ears right when the rope grabbed his feet. Just in a second he found himself hanging, victim of his own trap, the same one he setted up weeks ago "well, at least it worked" he said to himself, trying to stay calm, difficult task.

He had no means to break free, no knife, no handgun (which have just slipped from his fingers), no nothing. So he hanged there waiting for god to do something, anything. Panic started to slowly settle in his guts.

"So this is fucking it?" He asked after at least an hour of seeing the world upside down. He was hungry, skipping breakfast was not a smart idea.

He hanged upside down for so long that he started feeling deezy, a little more time and he would faint. And that would be it. If he fainted now he knew he would probably stay like that forever. But there was nothing he could do. He started drifting away while the pressure slowly started building in his head, just before darkness engulfed his vision a solitary figure appeared on the other side of town. A short, redheaded girl.

He closed his eyes.


	2. Strangers

A/N: i wrote a first chapter so why not writing a second one. I hope the whole story will be a long one. Remember, i'm not a very experienced writer,so any criticism is appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 2: Strangers

"_So this is how it feels_?" Dying wasn't the worst thing to happen to him. Not even close. He felt peacefull. His head was aching, but the pain was slowly retreating, replaced by a feeling of general numbness.

He felt a sudden breeze against his body. It feels good, but just for a moment. Something was wrong and he knew it. He realized he was falling right when his back hitted the ground, expulsing every particle of air from his lungs.

He stayed still in the ground coughing and trying to breath some air. He's not hanging anymore, which is a relief for his head, now red like a tomato with veins and arteries protruding all over due to the preassure they were under just a second ago.

What's not a relief for him is that someone just freed him and now he was completely vulnerable, still feeling dizzy and the rope still binding his feets. He opened his eyes.

"Are you okay?" the girl standing in front of him, with a switchblade in one hand and a gun in the other, asked.

"Of course not!" Jack replied while trying to release his feets from the rope.

The girl pointed the gun to his head, making him stop immediately. "Stay still" she said with urgency.

She slowly walked towards him, still pointing the gun somewhere between his eyes. She crouched down at his feet and with a quick move cutted the rope that used to hold his feets together.

He was thankfull for that, but noticed the gun was still pointed at him, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. Sometimes an ill thought out phrase could get you killed.

To his surprise it wasn't the girl who talked next. "Ellie!" right next to him appeared the figure of an old-ish man vissibly tired and angry "never run away like that, you know it's difficult to keep up".

"Sorry Joel, but it really seemed this guy needed some help" Joel was going to reply, but something seemed to click in his mind, and he immediately pulled out a revolver and pointed it at Jack.

"What are you doing here, kid?" He asked with a threatening tone.

"_If someone is going to pull the trigger, it will probably be this guy_" he thought. Now there were two guns pointed at him, and a question asked directly to him. That was the time to talk.

"Walking, minding my business" he answered with the friendliest tone he could. "I mean, I've been here for almost a month now, I am in my wright to walk around, don't you think?"

"Wait" Ellie said, realizing the implications of what he just said "if you have been here for so long did that means the trap was..." she pointed to the tree were the cutted rope was still hanging and then to him.

His silence confirmed her thoughts. Her lips twitched before a big smile formed in her face. Obiously finding the fact he fell in his own trap hilarious. That annoyed him, but at the same time he couldn't deny that he would probably be laughing his ass off in her place.

Joel didn't seemed so amused. But slowly lowered the gun, clearly thinking someone so clumsy couldn't be a real threat, specially been unarmed. "So you say you live here..." he paused. He seemed nervous, like if he was struggling with himself. He finally took a decision "what you got?"

Jack knew exactly what he meant. "Plenty of food, medicine, clothes, anything someone would need to survive" Jack didn't wanted to share that kind of intel. But he was outnumbered and Joel looked like a giant bear, he had no chances against him.

Joel looked troubled again. He looked at Ellie for a second and then turned to him.

"I got a deal for you".


	3. Jackson

A/N: I had some spare time so i decided to finish a third chapter today. As always some constructive critisicm is appreciated, remember i still have a lot to learn. I really hope you enjoy this.

* * *

Chapter 3: Jackson

Tommy has been sitting there for hours now, but he didn't felt uncomfortable, just worried. Joel and Ellie left the town that morning, right now the sun was touching the trees in the distance and there was still no sign of them.

He was at the watchtower number 2 from which he had a pretty decent view of Jackson and it's surroundings, but his eyes were fixed at the cliff just in front of him. Joel and Ellie could appear there at any moment. He felt guilt building up, he send them outside. This was supposed to be a simple scavenging mission, but even in this missions things could go wrong at any moment.

He was doing his best to keep any negative thought out of his mind, but it was getting increasingly difficult. They have been out for 12 hours now, they were just supposed to check out a little isolated cabin a couple of miles south a scout founded a week before.

The sun dissapeared behind the distant trees and shadows covered Jackson. Without been able to just sit there any more, Tommy standed up and started roaming the viewpoint, never seeing anything but the cliff.

The walkie-talkie on his waist emitted a familiar sound, he immediately answered the call. "Tommy here". "Movement, south east" was the only answer, but it was more than enough. He focused in that direction. There was movement and for his immence relief he saw Joel and Ellie. But they were not alone, someone else was there. The three figures carefully descended by one side of the cliff. Tommy went down the ladder, excited to meet his brother and the little girl.

The main gates opened as soon as he reach it. Tommy was relieved to see they were fine. Ellie and Joel looked both tired and dirty but nothing a good night of rest couldn't fix.

The third member of the group was a boy not much taller than Ellie and maybe a couple of years older. He had a pale skin, short black hair and the strangest pair of eyes he ever saw, one pale blue, the other one dark brown. The contrast between them was so notorious it also attracted the stares of the guards. Tommy even saw a guard at the watchtower number 1 aim at his face with the scope of his sniper rifle, he didn't thought it was for precaution.

The boy had a black t-shirt, a grey winter jacket, green cargo pants and a pair of dirty red sneakers. He also seemed tired, and having a closer look Tommy could see a collection of small scars around his face. "_Apparently this kid have seen some action_" he though.

Tommy gave a big hug to Joel before anyone could say anything. "You worried me a little back there" he said ending the hug.

"Sorry, little brother, we run across this little surprice" Joel pointed at the kid and then at his backpack. Which was completely full.

"Wow, what you have back there?" It was not only his backpack the full one. Ellie and the boy also had some heavy cargo.

"AND THIS IS NOT ALL!" Ellie said. Excited to give the good news. "There's a whole fucking house FULL of everything you could imagine!".

Ellie knew supplies were running low after the crude winter, so telling Tommy he should not be worried about food or medicines any more, at least for a while, brought a big smile to her face.

"A full house?" He was skeptical to say the least.

"Well, saying that there are plenty of food and supplies in there would be a fucking understatement" her smile was growing by the second.

"Where?" Tommy turned his attention to Joel. He needed a serious answer, this finding could be really important.

"There's a well hidden group of houses south from here near the cabin you send us to check out" Joel said. "We would have missed it without the help of this boy right here" he pointed to the stranger, who seemed to be embarrassed when Joel mentioned his 'help'.

"Thank you, kid" Tommy said while giving him a handshake.

"We promised him a safe place to stay in exchange for all this" Joel said next.

Tommy was surprised by this. They were used to strangers. New families joined Jackson all the time. But he would never expect Joel of all people to trust a complete stranger enough to invite him himself. If Joel could trust a stranger then everything was possible.

"Don't worry then, kid. You will have a warm bed to lie on tonight" Tommy said.

"Name's Jack" the boy said, visibly annoyed at the constant 'kid' treatmeant. That earned a couple of chuckles from Tommy.

"Okay Jack, welcome to Jackson"


	4. Insomnia

A/N: I enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it. As always, critisicm is appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 4: Insomnia

Jack was alone, staring at the door, waiting for something to come out and kill him at any moment. There was blood everywhere. Infected, fireflies and hunters lifeless bodies were spread all over the room. He had a machete in his left hand and an old shiv in his right one.

He was by himself now in this shithole. If he wanted to made it out alive, he should get moving.

He opened the door.

* * *

He was alone in the room. It was small, just an old bed, a window from which he could see the main gate of Jackson and a mirror on the wall. He could see his reflection in front of him. His right eye (the blue one) looked like a floating brilliant dot in the darkness, looking as creepy as ever. He could also feel the cold sweat on his back and chest, that nightmare was becoming a problem.

Every night for the last couple of months, he would woke up in the middle of the night, feel like shit for an hour or two and then sleep until the first rays of the sun appeared over the horizon. He didn't feel like going back to sleep tonight though, so he stood up and opened the door.

He was leaving the guests room in the first floor of a two-storey house, the first floor had a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room with just a couch and a fireplace in it and a small little room Joel and Ellie used for storage purposes. The second floor was composed by another bathroom (this one with a shower), Ellie's bedroom and Joel's bedroom.

Jack decided to check out the kitchen, maybe get something to eat and try to calm down. He didn't expected to see the lights on and Joel seated at the kitchen counter. He was using a grey t-shirt and Jack could clearly distinguish sweat marks all over it.

"Rough night, Joel?" Jack asked, revealing his presence. Joel looked surprised, but just for a second. He was good at hiding any kind of emotions.

"What are you doing awake? It's late " Jack knew Joel wasn't really worried about him. But it was good to have someone to talk. And Joel seemed to think the same thing.

"I guess I'm doing the same thing as you." Jack answered "we clearly have some shit to deal with".

Joel looked at him, and for the first time Jack saw something other than a neutral stare. He saw emphaty.

"Want some?" Joel raised an opened can of beans.

"Sure" Jack was skipped dinner last night. All the events of the last day leaved him exausted. So as soon as Joel and Ellie showed him his room he went to sleep.

They eated the beans in silence until the can was empty, Jack was still hungry but he didn't wanted to take advantage of Joel's hospitality (not in front of him at least).

"If you're hungry go take more, kid" Joel said. Jack gived him a confused look. "This is your home now, too. So why not sharing some food?"

"You don't seem like the kind of guy that's fond of sharing" Jack said.

"A year ago I would have probably killed you for even thinking about taking my food" Joel said. "But I suppose that's the thing with Jackson, with time you realise that sharing your stuff is the best way to survive among civilized people".

"A favor for a favor, sounds familiar" he stood up and grabbed another can of beans from the shelves, Joel passed him an opener."Thanks"

"Now you owe me one" Joel said between chuckles.

"Ja... hilarious" Jack consumed the beans in silence under Joel's scrutiny.

When Jack putted down the empty can he looked at joel, he seemed lost in his thoughts. Whatever kept him awake this night was hunting him. It was unsettling to think something could bother a seasoned survivor like him so much.

"So... what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"You are free to do whatever you want for now, if Tommy ever needs an extra pair of hands he might call you. New people are generally left alone for some time" Joel seemed to be thankfull for having someone to talk with. Jack suspected this was not the first time he wandered around the house in the middle of the night. But now with another insomiac there he at least didn't had to be alone.

"So exploring it is, any interesting place I should start with?"

"If you want to fell usefull, then go to the stables, Danny mentioned something about needing some extra help".

"Great" Jack said. He loved horses and he would enjoy having something to do. "Who the hell is Danny?"

Joel smiled. "Danny's in charge of the stables, you'll meet him tomorrow, an interesting guy to say the least".

He made a short pause.

"Didn't mention this before" Joel said "but Ellie and I think you have an interesting pair right there" he pointed at his eyes.

Jack laughed at the comment. "Yeah, I'm a fucking mutant, even I find it creepy sometimes".

"Well, it's an interesting...view" Joel smiled.

"Sorry Joel, but THAT was the lamest and unfunniest attempt of a joke in the history of the universe" Jack was also smiling.

They remained in silence for a minute, enjoying each other's company, and then Joel stood up."C'mon, kid. We may get a couple more hours of sleep tonight. And you know we need them."

Jack didn't argue with him, he also stood up, turned off the lights and headed to his room. Before opening the door he turned to face Joel's silhouette "Thank you, Joel". Joel nodded in his direction and went upstairs. Jack smiled and entered the room.

A minute later he was already asleep.


	5. Stables

A/N: I feel it took me too much time to write this chapter, they are kinda short. But I always enjoy to write, even if I don't have much experience. Hope you enjoy and remember criticism is always appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 5: Stables

Ellie woke up late, she was exhausted last night so it didn't surprised her. She stood up, her bedroom was composed by a bed, a window facing the front gate of Jackson and an old drawer.

She walked to the drawer and got dressed, when she was done she was wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt, her only pair of jeans and an old pair of grey socks.

She grabed her backpack from the floor and took a look inside, she immediately found what she was looking for, 'No pun intended, Vol III'. The book was a present from Joel for her sixteenth birthday, he founded it at an old bookstore during a scavenging mission a month ago and since then she read it whenever was possible.

She walked to the door, got out of the room, and walked down the stairs to the first floor. Joel was there, alone, sitted at the kitchen counter.

" 'morning" he said.

"Hi, Joel" She sitted in front of him and left the book on the counter. Joel prepared breakfast, a plate with eggs and bacon was laying right in front of her.

When the last piece of bacon dissapeared from the plate she asked " Where's 'funny eyes'?"

Joel chuckled and answered "he's on his way to the stables, I mentioned Danny needed help and he was eager to proof himself usefull"

"What the fuck, Joel!?" Ellie stood up, runned to the living room and grabbed her sneakers. "I was going to help him today with the horses!"

Joel knew that perfectly well "you might need some help..."

"Fuck that!" If Jack reached the stables first, he would get to brush and clean the horses while she would get to dispose of their shit. "When did he left?"

"Almost an hour ago, but..."

She was already out, running through the street.

* * *

Jack wandered around the town for almost half an hour before deciding to ask for directions. He set his eyes on the porch of a small house at his right, where an old bearded man was seated cleaning his revolver with a dirty looking mop.

"Excuse me".

The man ignored him.

"Hey, Oldie!".

"Kid, if I don't talk to you, that probably means I don't want to waste my fucking time talking to you" he casually commented while submerging the mop into a bucket full of water.

"Well, sorry. I just need to know were the stables are"

"Just follow the street, it's a big red building, can't miss it" the man looked and sounded annoyed.

"Thank you..."

"Jack"

Jack shouldn't be surprised, after all his name was fairly common.

"My name is also Jack so... what if from now on I call you old Jack and you call me young Jack, otherwise it would fell weird" he tried to lighten the mood of old Jack.

"What if from now on I call you little fucker?" old Jack didn't seemed as annoyed as before, but he still sounded tired of that conversation.

Jack knew he shouldn't push this any longer "okay, thank you old Jack" he said, then turned to his left and started walking again.

"Bye bye little fucker"

* * *

The stables were just as old Jack described, a big red building, impossible to miss. It looked like a werehouse too him, but the citizens of Jackson have been working very hard and transformed it into the place to go if you need a horse. A big sign nailed near the white front door readed 'Stable'.

Jack opened the door and took a look inside, it was a huge open space, hay covered the floor. At his right there were six improvised stalls made of whatever the people of Jackson considered could contain a horse, they looked solid enough. At his left he saw another six stalls, which made a total of twelve stalls. Jack counted ten horses, five at each side.

"Amazing, don't you think?" A man came out of one of the empty stalls at his left, he was in his mid-forties, well shaved and completely bald, his head looked like an egg. He was tall, and seemed like someone who could break a human in half if pissed. Joel was pretty big, but this guy was a giant. The dirty brown cargo pants and black denim jacket just maked him look even more dangerous.

"Pretty solid job, you made this?"

"We all did this, it's amazing what a group of people can do by working together" the giant said with pride.

"Danny, I guess" Jack said with a friendly smile on his face, Danny nodded.

"And you are the new kid, I heard some interesting rumors about you at dinner yesterday"

"The eyes?"

Danny burst out laughing, grabbing his sides. When he stopped tears were rolling down his cheeks. "_Seems like a cheerful guy"_ Jack thought.

"Pretty much. What's your name, son?"

"Jack..."

A loud bang at his back interrupted him. He turned around to find the door wide opened and Ellie in front of it, grabing her knees, trying to catch her breath. Sweat was running down her forehead.

"I... will not... clean... the horseshit"

"Ellie!" Danny seemed happy to see her "I was waiting for you"

"Of course you were, otherwise... I would be fucking pissed". She slowly started breathing normally. Then her face lit up when Danny grabbed a brush and a bucket of water from a corner.

"I think you will like this, Ray needs a good cleaning and Peck just came back from the outside." He handed the brush and the bucket to Ellie "everithing else you need is at the last stall on the left."

"Thank you, Danny!" She then took off to the stalls with a big smile on her face "good luck, you'll need it 'funny eyes' " she murmured into Jack's left ear.

He didn't knew what she meant.

"Well Jack" Danny said next "what can I do for you?"

"Joel told me you would appreciate an extra pair of hands"

"Of course, boy" Danny went to the corner and then handed a stinky shovel to Jack. "Last stall on the right, I need everything inside these sacks" he also handed Jack three big sacks.

Jack walked to the last stall on the right and took a look.

"Well, that's a big pile of shit"


	6. Horses and puns

A/N: This chapter is shorter than the last two, but i really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it. And as always, critisicm is appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 6: Horses and puns

When Ellie and Jack got out of the stable, only one of them was smiling, the other one was staring into nothingness, trying not to puke.

Both of them had dirt on their faces and both of them smelled like shit.

Jack worked with the steaming pile of manure for almost an hour and then he took the sacks to the other side of Jackson, to the farm, were he left them at the front door as instructed by Danny, then he came back to the stable. Without giving him time to rest, Danny gave Jack the task to learn and remember the names of every horse, arguing that it was impossible to work with horses you don't know.

He dedicated an hour to learn every name. First Ray and Peck, the two dirty stallions. Then Felicity, a young mare. Fenix, the oldest, and Felix, the youngest. Goliath, a gigantic 4-legged black monster, the biggest. Rob, a stallion and Tara, a mare, both completely white. And finally the smallest, Gwen and a complete piece of shit by the name of Callus the second, who kicked Jack so hard on the stomach that it almost left him unconsious, Danny said he was the newest horse, which meaned the wildest. Ellie founded him wandering around the woods just two months ago.

" I don't think I love horses so much any more" Jack said, resting a hand on his stomach.

"C'mon, you just need a shower. Then you'll realise that you love them even more now" Ellie tried to cheer him up "when it's about horses, you can't love them enough".

"I literally smell like shit and my stomach will probably never be the same again"

"If you didn't wanted to work hard then you shouldn't offer your help to people, specially Danny. Will you come back tomorrow?" Danny asked them to come back just before they leaved.

"Can't say no to Callus" Jack was not looking foward to meet that horse again, but another day with stuff to do seemed good to him. He liked to work, phisical activities distracted him from unwanted memories. But he was sure his scumbag brain was going to bring those up during the night.

They walked down the street in silence for several minutes until Ellie turned to him and said "okay, let's bring a smile to that serious face"

Jack sighed "Joel warned me about this...shoot"

Ellie grinned "what is a pirate's favourite letter?"

"You'd think it'd be R but 'tis the C" he answered immediately.

Ellie looked genuinely surprised "where did you learned that?"

"I'm familiar with the genious of Will Livingston"

"Fuck me, you can't be serious. You read the books?"

"A guy accidentally killed himself with a nail gun..." he started.

"... he nailed it" she finished.

"Incredibly lame and incredibly awesome, just like I like it"

"Fuck yeah" she said while raising her right hand.

Jack hesitated for a second before smiling and giving her a high-five. "Fuck yeah" he murmured.

"Weird eyes AND a sense of humor, there's something you don't have?"

Jack's smile slowly faded "there are plenty of things I don't have".

Ellie recognised his expression. She decided to keep her mouth shut for once.

Jack appreciated her silence.

A minute later they saw the house at the distance, in front of the main gate. Joel was sitted on the porch, playing an old guitar.

When Joel saw them he putted the guitar down.

"Why the long face, kid?" Joel asked Jack.

"It's nothing, don't worry about me"

Joel stared at him for a second and then continued. "Well, you two smell like shit, literally. So what about a shower?"

"Me first, I can't stand myself a second longer" Ellie said while hurriedly entering the house leaving Joel and Jack alone.

"So, kid. What do you think?"

Jack knew what Joel meant. "I don't regret coming with you, but I can't see myself living here permanently".

"What's the problem?".

"It's not a problem with Jackson, it's a problem with me" Jack answered "I got stuff to deal with. Let's leave it there" without saying anything else he entered the house and headed to his room.


	7. Backpack

CT230R: Thank you!

A/N: this is an extra short chapter, but I think it's as long as it should. And remember, I still have a lot to learn, I write so I can improve, and that means any criticism is appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 7: Backpack

When Jack closed the door behind him, he walked towards his bed and looked under it.

His old backpack was laying right where he left it. Jack grabbed it, opened it and dropped all its contents on the bed. He leaved the empty backpack at a side.

He stared at his most valued possessions. His whole life reduced to a pile of stuff on a bed.

He was thinking about Ellie's words "there's something you don't have?". Reminders of everything he had lost were now in front of him.

He grabbed an old photo from the pile. Jack looked at a younger version of himself, smiling at the camera. Beside him was an smiling girl, she was 2 years older but was as tall as him, she had long blonde hair and the same strange set of eyes he had, one pale blue, the other one brown.

Jack flipped the photo. On the back, written in blue, he could read 'the creepy bros'.

Things were good (or as good as they could be) and one day everything changed.

He turned his eyes toward the pile and immediately found what he was looking for, two firefly pendants:

JANE JORDAN 000340

JACK JORDAN 000341

This world was a strange place, one day you are an orphan struggling to survive and the other one you are a member of a militia. But the fireflies were only a bunch of empty promises. Jack had nothing but nightmares from his time with them.

"Fucking fireflies, just another group of assholes" he muttered.

Jane wasn't convinced about the fireflies, but she wasn't going to leave him, she would have followed him to hell if necessary. Jack was the reason the pendants were there at the pile right now. He was the reason his sister was dead...

"Jack" Ellie's voice called from the other side of the door "are you there?"

Jack didn't answered. He hurriedly took the backpack a filled it up again. He left it under the bed, walked towards the door and opened it.

"What's up?"

"God, are you okay?" Ellie seemed worried.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why?"

"Jack, you are crying" Ellie seemed really worried.

"No, I'm not" he quickly wiped away his tears "I'm tired, that's all"

Ellie was going to say something, but she changed her mind. After a second of silence she said "you should take a shower, you still smell like shit." Without saying anything else, she left.

Jack looked at his room for a second before leaving.

He knew this was going to be a rough night.


	8. Callus

A/N: Next chapter will kick off the story, It will be longer. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading this. And as always, remember I'm an unexperienced writer, so any criticism is appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 8: Callus

Jack and Ellie walked down the street, heading to the stable, anxious to find out what Danny prepared for them.

"You're not looking so hot" Ellie commented. He looked like shit.

" I couldn't sleep last night" His voice sounded weak and growly.

"Have anything to say about that?"

"Not right now" his sleeping problems worried him, but he didn't had the energy to discuss about that right now, specially with someone he barely knew. "I'll be able to deal with anything Danny has in store for me, so don't worry"

Ellie didn't push it any further, he felt grateful about that.

They spotted the stable at the distance a couple of minutes later. Danny was waiting for them outside "Good to see you didn't chicken out, kid" he said with a friendly smile.

"That would be impossible"

"Good to know" He opened the door behind him and got into the stable. Jack and Ellie followed him. "Today we are going to do something I have been waiting to do for months, today is the day we finally mount Callus"

"What? You never mounted him before?" Jack asked.

"Kid, Callus is a wild horse, we need to gain his trust first. He needs to know we are not going to hurt him. It's a process that can take months or even years in some cases" Danny said, he seemed to enjoy lecturing him.

"You think he's ready? He still gets nervous around strangers" Ellie said.

"He just needs a firm hand" Danny looked excited "C'mon, let's see him"

They walked towards the right stalls and stopped in front of the sign that readed 'Callus the second'.

"Who names a horse 'the second', or 'Callus' for that matter?" Jack asked.

"That would be me and me. I found him, I name him" Ellie answered.

"Well... the name sucks"

"You suck"

"Keep it quiet, we don't want to scare him" Danny said, he took a step foward, opened the door and entered Callus stall.

Callus immediately reacted to the change in his environment, he stepped back and pointed his ears foward.

"Easy boy" Danny whispered, getting closer. He slowly raised a hand and petted him. "If he let's you pet him, you have a chance to mount him. Bring a saddle, Ellie."

She immediately left.

"What can I do?" Jack asked.

"You are going to mount him, Jack" Danny grinned.

"What!?"

"Callus seems to hate you, if you are able to tame him. Then it shouldn't be a problem to anyone else"

"That's... so... stupid"

"C'mon, boy. Just a minute ago you said that it was impossible for you to chicken out."

Ellie came back with the saddle "C'mon 'funny eyes'. You are not afraid of Callus, aren't you? He's such a good boy".

"Okay... I can do it." Jack wasn't sure about this, he was tired after a sleepless night.

"Great, let's get you prepped, Callus. Your domestication process ends today!"

* * *

They were at an open space behind the stable, a fence delimitated a big circle in front of them. Callus was inside this circle with the saddle already on him. A small crowd formed around the fence, waiting to see some action.

"Okay kid, just remember, grab the reins and don't let go, no matter what. As soon as you mount him, you will trigger a response from him, he will try to get rid of you. The only thing you have to do is stay on him and don't let go of the reins. Easy deal" Danny gave his final instructions.

"Just don't die, okay?" Ellie said.

"Fuck you" Jack was really nervous now.

He walked towards the fence and jumped over it. The crowd of people now was silent. He slowly approached Callus. He grabbed the reins and in a fluid move, he sitted on the saddle.

As soon as his whole weight rested on him, Callus losted his mind. He first made a sudden move with his head that almost knocked him down. And then started jumping around the whole area. Jack could hear the crowd's exitement, but his attention was focused exclusively on his grip on the reins. Callus was desperately trying to eject him off his back, but Jack wasn't planning to fail. He just needed to keep himself on the saddle. But it was becoming increasingly difficult. He felt pain build up all over his body.

After what seemed like hours, which in reality were minutes, Jack's grip started to loosen. But right before he could give up. Callus loudly exhaled through his nose and calmed down.

The crowd roared as Jack realized he had control over the horse now, and not the other way around.

Danny jumped over the fence and aproached him "nothing like a good ol' battle between man and beast"

Jack smiled and petted Callus, grateful it was all over now. Right then he had an epiphany, maybe Jackson had much more to offer than he thought. Maybe he could stay for a little while there. Maybe he could slowly forget the past and build a new life for himself there.

Those were just dumb fantasies, and deep inside, he knew it.

He decided to enjoy the good times while they lasted.


	9. Two months later

Chapter 9: Two months later

"Dear magic ball, will Ellie ever admit that I'm funnier than her?" Jack shook the big black ball "very doubtful. Hey, this thing seems legit"

"Jack, I am funnier than you" Ellie stated from the other side of the room.

They were exploring an old basement full of stuff. Anything deemed useless by the citizens of Jackson ended up there. They were surrounded by piles of mischelaneous objects, relics from a simpler past.

"Ellie, you are unable to say something remotely humorous that doesn't includes the words 'fuck' or 'shit'. Swearing gets old pretty fast, you know"

"Fuck you, that's bullshit." She made a pause to examine a small brass figure which represented a little winged kid. "I'm hilarious".

"Correction, the book you quote all the time is hilarious, you are just meh. Do you think Ellie is funny, magic ball?" He shook the ball again "Ask again later? Yeah you'll love that don't you"

Jack left the ball on the nearest pile of stuff and walked towards Ellie, avoiding all the objects around him. "Found anything interesting?"

"Look at this" she handed him a small cube "do you know what it is?"

Jack examined it, he have seen one of this before."Yes... it's a Rubik's cube"

"A Rubi-what?"

"It's a puzzle, you complete it when each face consist of one colour." He give it back to her.

She played with it for a second. "Oh, I get it"

"You want to make a bet? I give you one month to solve it"

"Deal. The stakes?"

"I'll think about them once you fail"

"Fail? Do you realize you just gave me ONE MONTH to solve this?"

Jack grinned, but didn't said anything.

He looked around him, there were so much interesting stuff that it was impossible to concentrate on something in particular.

"Why didn't you told me about this place before?" Jack have been living in Jackson for months, he founded weird that Ellie didn't even mention the most awesome place in the whole town before.

"I don't know... reasons?" Ellie opened the backpack she was carrying and left the cube inside.

Jack took a peek of the interior of the backpack, and before Ellie could do anything about it, he reached to the inside and extracted an old walkman.

"Hey, what the fuck!. Give me that back, NOW"

Jack ignored her complaints, he observed there was a tape inside the walkman. He took the headphones, put them on, and pressed the play button. Nothing happened. "Aw, that's disappointing, it's broken"

Ellie didn't say anything, she just took the walkman from his hands and throw it back into the backpack. "Don't you dare to touch this backpack ever again"

"C'mon, I just thought it looked interesting"

"EVER...AGAIN..." She was seriously pissed.

Jack struggled to find something to say, but just settled with a "sorry".

"We should go back home, it's getting late" She closed the backpack, putted it on and walked towards the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Ellie. Didn't know it would upset you so much"

"Well now you know, don't mess with the backpack" She said before going upstairs.

Jack standed there, thinking about what just happened. Invading her privacy like that was not a great idea, He thought about how he would felt if he found Ellie checking out his own backpack, he would be really pissed off too.

He went upstairs, the place was empty. He left the house and closed the door, a small sign nailed to it readed 'storage house'.

Without anything else to do, he headed to what now has becomed his home.

* * *

When Jack opened the door, he found Joel sitted on the couch, reading a supply list. Something was weird, then it dawned on him "Joel, your beard!" He was clean-shaven.

"Yeah, decided to get rid of it, at least for a while"

"I don't think I can get used to your face. Just grow it back, for your own sake" Joel was unrecognizable.

"Funny, Ellie said exactly the same thing"

"Where is she?" Jack's tone turned serious.

"Upstairs, she seemed upset. What did you do?"

"Messed with her backpack"

"You shouldn't have, kid" Joel said. And then turned to the list once again.

Jack thinked about what to do next, he decided to talk with Ellie. Maybe another round of appologies would calm her down.

He went upstairs and walked towards Ellie's room. He was about to knock the door when he noticed there was a small crack on it.

He turned his head and got closer to the door to hear inside, he didn't heard a sound. After a second of hesitation he crouched and peeked through the crack.

Ellie was sitted on the floor resting her back on the side of the bed. The backpack was opened right beside her. She was reading an old, yellow piece of paper, and she was crying. Big tears rolled down her cheeks when she flipped the piece of paper to read the other side.

Jack never saw her like that before, she always seemed unbreakable, a though survivor with a cheery exterior. But now she just seemed like a scared, little, defenceless girl.

He stood up and walked away.


	10. Duties

A/N: A lot of thought went into this chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And remember, my goal is to improve as a writer, so constructive criticism is appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 10: Duties

Joel was having breakfast. He was alone in the kitchen, thinking about Tommy. After lunch he had a meeting with him, they would discuss winter rations. It was summer now, and that meaned they would start prepping for next winter. It was a complex operation, they had to manage the storage of canned food, think about clothing (what they needed with urgency and what could wait) and prepare a detailed schedule for any missions outside. In summary, the winter was a huge pain in the ass.

On top of that, he had the first night shift on the watchtower number 1.

"Fuck this shit!" Ellie's voice reached him from upstairs. Joel sighed before standing up, he walked towards the stairs. When he reached Ellie's room, he knocked the door.

"Something's wrong, Ellie?"

"Don't worry Joel... I'm fine" her voice sounded weak. Joel opened the door.

Ellie was laying on the bed, holding an old Rubik's cube.

"Where did you get that?" Joel didn't remember the last time he saw one.

"Jack found it yesterday, he gave me a month to solve it... but this fucking colors don't ..." She twisted the cube, anger building up again.

"Ellie, calm down" Joel recognised her tone, she sounded exhausted. And looked exhausted, her eyes were red and he could see noticeable black circles under them. "For how long have you been playing with that?"

"I don't know, an hour?"

"Ellie, don't lie"

"Okay...okay" she closed her eyes for a second and then continued "all night".

"Are you telling me you didn't sleep at all last night?"

"Yep" She was struggling to keep her eyes open.

Joel sighed. "That's it, give me the cube. You need to rest"

"I'm not even...tired. And...I will not... give..." She fell asleep before finishing the sentence.

Joel stared at her for a while. When it was clear she was not waking up any time soon, he carefully took the cube and leave it on top of Ellie's drawer.

He was going to leave when he heard a moan behind him.

"Please...don't" Ellie whispered, still asleep "don't leave me".

She started mumbling. Sweat forming on her forehead.

Joel looked at her again, feeling impotence. There was nothing he could do to comfort her.

"Please..."

"I'm here, baby girl" he rested a hand on her shoulder "I'm not going anywhere"

* * *

"Movement, southwest" Ron said.

Jack raised the rifle and looked through the scope. "I see it"

He took the walkie-talkie

"Watchtower 1, here's watchtower 2, there's a clicker, southwest, by the treeline. Orders?"

Jack waited for an answer, keeping an eye on the infected. "Target confirmed. Watchtower 2, you have permission to shoot"

"Roger that" he put the walkie-talkie down and turned his head to Ron "You know what to do, I just need one bullet"

Ron walked towards a bell at the side of the watchtower. He raised a small hammer and hit the bell one time, making a loud noise, hearable from every corner of Jackson . "One bell, one bullet. Do it" Ron said.

Jack raised the rifle once again. BANG. The clicker's head exploded, and his body immediately fell to the ground.

"Nice shot, Jack"

Jack gave him a smirk. "Thank you, Ron. But really, you expected something else?"

"Okay, don't be cocky" both of them chuckled.

Ron was his 'tower buddy', as Ellie called him. He was in his mid-thirties, had short brown hair, the beginning of a beard and was a bit overweight. He always used the same red shirt, a denim vest and an old pair of green cargo pants.

"Now we wait again" Jack and Ron were located on top of the watchtower number 2, they could see the whole town from there and had a nice view of the surroundings.

They had the morning shift, the sun was still hidden behind the trees, Jack calculated about 4 hours till the next shift.

"You're looking good today, Jack"

"I know" he said. He was in a good mood. This was one of those weird days in which he managed to have a good night's sleep.

They walked around the watchtower, scanning Jackson and it's surroundings, looking for any sign of trouble. After a couple of hours, Ron took a small wooden chair from a side and sat down, facing the exterior.

"I need to sit down, my legs are killing me"

Jack took another chair and also sat down.

After a while Ron said "So...you brought that book of yours?"

Jack grinned, he was waiting for Ron to say that. He grabbed a small bag he always brought to the watchtower and extracted a book from it, 'no pun intended Vol III'.

Jack opened the book, a message was written on the first page 'Jack's copy, not Ellie's '. He reached the page in which they stopped last time.

"Alright, here we go. 'I don't know why the dude with no legs can't stand me'."

"Great, lame AND offensive" Ron said sarcastically.

"Killer combo. This one is better, 'what if..."

The walkie-talkie on his waist emitted a sound. Jack sighed, closed the book, opened the bag and leave it inside. He answered the call "Watchtower 2"

"Movement, southwest. It's a big one" Jack and Ron stood up and faced that direction, a bloater was standing near the dead clicker.

"You think the shot attracted him here?" Jack asked. The bloater was coming closer to the wall, but it shouldn't be a problem.

"It's probable, it will take more than a single bullet to..."

BANG. Before Ron finished the sentence a bullet found it's way through his head. Blood, grey matter and pieces of his skull were spilled on the floor.

"What..."

BANG.


	11. Menace

Chapter 11: Menace

Joel left Ellie's room and went downstairs. His breakfast was still waiting for him at the kitchen counter. He hurriedly finished it.

Joel had nothing to do until lunch, so he decided to take a walk. He stood up and looked for a piece of paper, he took a pen and wrote:

'Ellie, I'll be with Tommy if you need me. Jack's shift ends at midday, wait for him and have lunch. There's food in the fridge. I'll be back late tonight, don't wait for me.'

He walked upstairs towards Ellie's room and slid the note under the door. A minute later he closed the front door behind him.

To his right he could see the main gate of Jackson. Surrounded by two watchtowers, watchtower number 1 at the left, and number 2 at the right.

He turned to the left, facing Jackson's main street, and started walking. He remembered how he felt when he and Ellie reached Jackson more than a year ago. Seeing people just walk through the street, without worrying about infected or hunters was strange for him, to say the least.

" 'morning, Joel"

Joel turned his head, an old man, at least a decade older than him, was staring at him from the porch of a small house.

"Jack, nice to see you" it was always nice to talk with him, they had a lot in common "How's the leg doing?"

"It's killing me right now, but I can't complain" Old Jack said, he walked towards Joel "How's the little fucker doing? I haven't seen him in a while"

Joel chuckled "he's adapting"

"Good to..."

DONG.

Jack stopped talking, they both waited.

BANG.

"One bell, one bullet" Jack said.

"What you think?"

"Probably an infected or a deer, lets just hope it was a deer"

Joel felt anxious. The bell was a sign the situation was under control, but it was never enough for him. "Maybe I should go..."

"Joel, I'm sure things are okay. If you worry too much, you'll get old"

He knew it was probably nothing to worry about "you're right"

"Of course I'm right. I'm the wise, old guy of the town, remember?"

Joel smiled.

"Joel!" Tommy was walking towards them " 'morning, Jack" he added when he reached them.

"Always good to see you, Tommy" Jack said "I'll leave you bros alone, have a nice day you two"

Old Jack went back to his small house.

"Chilling out, Joel?" Tommy asked with a friendly tone.

"Not exactly, what happened at the gate?"

"A clicker, apparently. Your boy made the shot, he's pretty good." Tommy was happy with Jack, he turned out to be a valuable asset for Jackson.

"He's a good kid"

Joel and Tommy walked together through the town for hours, it was one of those rare instances in which they manage to enjoy each others company without any big problem in mind. Ocassionaly Tommy stopped to talk through the walkie-talkie. He and Maria managed everything in Jackson. It was a very demanding job.

"Sometimes I'm happy I'm not you" Joel commented when Tommy put down the walkie-talkie for the tenth time.

"I can't imagine my life been different" the walkie-talkie emitted a sound for the eleventh time. Tommy sighed "but sometimes I wish it was easier"

He grabbed it and answered the call "Tommy here"

"Tommy, this is watchtower 1. We have a bloater"

"Bloater?" He thinked for a second, a bloater shoudn't be a problem for them."you have permission to shoot, ask watchtower 2 for assistance"

"Roger that"

They didn't move, waiting for the sound of the bells.

BANG.

Tommy sighed "I told them a million times that before shooting they..."

BANG.

The walkie-talkie sounded again.

"Tommy, we have a problem here"


	12. Sniper

A/N: Excuse me for the shortness of this chapter, this is short even for this story. This was actually the first part of a long chapter I'm working on, just couldn't resist the temptation of cutting where I did, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 12: Sniper

BANG

A bullet grazed Jack's left arm. He immediately took cover. He examined his bleeding arm, it wasn't serious.

He took the walkie-talkie "Watchtower 1, what's going on?" He tried not to sound panicked, but it was difficult.

"Sniper, take cover." The guy at the other end sounded calm.

"And the bloater?"

"We need to take care of him"

"Any suggestion?"

"I need you to calm down, boy"

Jack closed his eyes. "Okay, I'm fine" he said a minute later.

"Now, is Ron with you?"

Jack looked at Ron, half of his head was missing, small pieces of it were spread across the floor.

"He's dead" Jack was trying to keep his emotions at bay, he didn't had time to mourn him right now.

"Fuck... okay, you see his backpack? There should be some granades inside" Jack saw the backpack next to Ron's feet, he crawled towards it and opened it.

"I see two granades"

"They should do, the bloater's 150 feet away. 14 o'clock. You think you can make the throw?"

Jack took a granade "I think so" he removed the safety pin and without standing up, he threw it. The granade exploded seconds later, followed by a loud moan.

"Nice, finish him"

Jack removed the second granade from the backpack.

BANG

"Fuck, you okay?"

"I was not the target... the bloater is dead"

Jack took a peek, the bloater was indeed dead, half his head was bloqn away by the sniper.

"What now?" All Jack wanted to do was leave the watchtower.

"Stay low, I'm looking for this fucker. Tommy and Joel are coming, wait for them"

"Great... you see something?"

"Believe me, if I see something, It will be dead immediately" the guy from the watchtower 1 still had a calm tone.

"I never asked for your name, you always were 'watchtower 1' for me"

"Now it's not the time. I'll personally give you my name later, okay?"

"Roger that" Jack put down the walkie-talkie and waited. Still behind cover. There was nothing now to distract him from the corpse of his former 'tower buddy'. The guy didn't deserved to go out this way, it was just unfair. But yet again, since when were things fair?

He didn't realized someone was going up the ladder of the watchtower until Joel's head pop-out from the corner in which the ladder was located.

"Joel! Keep..."

"I know" Joel crawled towards him. "Shit, Ron..."

"What's the plan?"

"First of all, I'm taking you out of here. The shooter will make a mistake, eventually. And when that happens, he will pay for this. Now c'mon, let's go. And keep your head down."

"Watchtower 2, you hear me?" A voice came out from the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, I hear you watchtower 1" Jack answered.

"Look at this"

Jack looked at Joel, then he slowly stood up. He saw a group of six people coming out from the treeline. In front of the group was the sniper, carrying what Jack recognised as a Barrett M82, a .50 caliber 'stick of death'. The sniper seemed to be the leader, he was a small man, had long blonde hair and a standard firefly uniform.

"Fuck... this is bad, this is really, really bad" Jack was shoked.

"What happens?" Asked Joel, surprised of his reaction.

"I know this guy"


	13. Ryan

Chapter 13: Ryan

"You... what?" Joel couldn't believe what Jack just said.

The small group stopped in front of the gates, guns down. "I don't recommend you to open fire, I'm not the only sniper around" The sniper said to no one in particular, facing Jackson.

"Now, Jack..." he continued " just imagine my surprise when I saw you here, alive and well. Sorry about your arm, couldn't resist the temptation."

"What the fuck do you want, Ryan?" Jack was livid, just to see that guy again made him feel sick.

"I thought it was clear, I wanted all the shit this town has to offer. I've been planning this for weeks, actually. But right when the attack begins, I see you. I just wanted to say hi, so I called it off. The bloatie was also a very unfortunate coincidence."

"So you will leave this town alone?"

"Fuck no, but now that the surprise factor is no longer a factor, I may be open to a deal"

"What are you thinking about?" This time it wasn't Jack who talked, but Tommy. He was at watchtower 1, toghether with the guy who helped Jack before.

"You must be the leader" Ryan said "Well, in exchange of not destroying your pretty town... I'll only ask for... 50 percent of your food and medicine?"

"You must be insane to think I'll accept that"

"Insane? A lot of people have called me that before, they generally end up dead... just like your sis, Jack!"

He grinned.

"I never knew..."

"Shut up, Joel" Jack never told anyone in Jackson about Jane or the fireflies. Ryan was making fun of him. He was reaching his limit. But he was not going to loose his temper.

"So Ryan, I see you left the fireflies. Did Marlene finally kick you out?" the group that followed him didn't show any sign of been members of the fireflies. And the firefly logo was missing from Ryan's old uniform.

"I guess news didn't reach this small isolated town, the fireflies are dead, Marlene is dead and Salt lake city is a ghost town now"

Tommy and the watchtower 1 guy seemed surprised, but neither Joel nor Jack reacted to the news.

"I guess it was just a matter of time" It has been a matter of time since the beginning. Jack founded the complete lack of reaction from Joel more surprising "you knew about this, Joel?"

"I... heard some rumors" he was lying. But Jack had other things to worry about.

"Well, I'm sure you're smart enough to fill in the blanks, so enough of catching up" Ryan said before turning to Tommy again "Town leader, your answer's still the same? This is your last chance"

"I'll not give you nothing, turn around and get lost" Tommy didn't even hesitate.

Ryan smiled again.

Jack knew that was what he wanted. Ryan seemed to enjoy messing with people. He was unpredictable, he always did stuff that didn't make any sence. He didn't change at all.

"I just wanted to give this town a chance of survival" Ryan used a serious tone for the first time " listen to me, maybe not today, or tomorrow, maybe not this month or even this year. But SOMEDAY... I'll be back. And it won't be pretty for you" Jack knew he meant it. "And Jack... you changed. I'll miss the cold-blooded motherfucker."

Without saying anything else, Ryan and the rest of his group turned around and walked away until they vanished behind the treeline.


	14. Fireflies and a dead guy

A/N: This is a super short chapter, the shortest yet, actually, but I think it's just as long as it needs to be. In other news, flashback time, you can expect more of this in the future. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 14: Fireflies and a dead guy

The lifeless body of a thirty-something years old guy was laying in the middle of the woods.

"Oh man, look at this" Jane said.

"Yep, this dude is dead" Jack kicked the man's leg.

"Someone shot at him, bullet to the head" Jane pointed at the man's head, a small hole was located just above the left eye.

"What you think, hunters?"

"Most probable"

"Creepy bros!" Jack and Jane turned around, Ryan gave them a smirk. "Who's your friend?"

"We just found him, we think there can be a group of hunters..."

"We can deal with them, Jane" Jack was sure of it.

Two more fireflies appeared from the nearby trees. John and Toby.

"The hunters should be far by now, we'll camp here" Ryan said.

"What do we do with him?" Jane asked pointing her head towards the body.

"Well, I'm really tired of eating winter rations and fucking squirells... Toby, you used to be a butcher, you think you can work some magic on this guy?"

Jane was shoked by his answer "you're not seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting"

"So you are the morality police now? Look, I'm not wasting 100 pounds of perfectly good meat just because it USED to be part of a man"

"This is crazy!"

"This is necessary"

"Cannibalism?"

"Jane" Jack didn't like this, but Ryan was right "This guy is dead and we are alive. I want to keep it that way"

"That's the spirit!" Ryan smiled at him.

"I'm not doing this"

"Alright" Ryan was annoyed "starve to death if you want. Toby, you know what to do. Jack, we need a fire..."

That night Jane was the only one who skipped dinner.


	15. Catching up

Chapter 15: Catching up

Ellie opened her eyes. After a couple of seconds, she stood up and walked towards the window. A large crowd was gathering at the main gate, Tommy was addresing them, she couldn't hear what he was saying, but people seemed worried.

"What's that all about?" she turned around and saw Joel's note on the floor. She read it. The note said Joel would be with Tommy, but Tommy was at the main gate now... She heard noises coming from the front door of the house. Joel and Jack's voices reached her from the first floor.

Before leaving the room Ellie turned to the drawer, the Rubik's cube was still there "I'll have to deal with you later" she still had 29 days to solve it.

Ellie went down the stairs. Joel and Jack were seated at the kitchen counter, they turned to her as soon as she entered the room.

"What's up with your arm?" She asked, looking at Jack's wounded arm, wrapped in bandages.

"A crazy ex-firefly shot at it with a 50 caliber sniper rifle... because he thought it would be funny" Jack said.

Ellie gave him a confused look "I don't get it"

"It's not a joke, Ellie." He looked at Joel for a second, and sighed "We were... ambushed, Ron is dead" he decided to be straightfoward about it.

Ellie didn't reacted immediately, it was too sudden. She have known Ron for more than a year, and then, just like that, he was gone.

"Oh..." she felt a hand on her shoulder. Joel was now standing next to her.

"C'mon kiddo, let's go get something to eat"

"Okay, Joel" this was not the best way to begin a day. She sat down next to Jack.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Of course not" she looked at Joel.

He opened the fridge and extracted a plate full of the food leftovers from the past week "beggars aren't choosers" he murmured. The 'leftovers plate' was the single most hated object in the whole house. Once a week they had the 'civic duty' of cleaning the plate, a disgusting mix of almost rotten cold meat, vegetables and fruits.

"Wow... Joel. You wanna know how to cheer people up? Offer them the worst meal possible" Jack said, trying to light up the mood. It didn't worked.

Ellie just accepted what Joel offered her and ate in silence. Joel and Jack did the same.

"You're dealing with this pretty well, Jack" Ellie said when she finished. She expected the death of his 'tower buddy' to affect him.

"I've been dealing with death since I was a liitle kid, I guess I just learned to accept it"

Ellie was about to ask him about that, but remembered that, when asked about his past, Jack always changed the subject immediately.

"So... what happened today? The details, I mean" She asked instead.

Jack hesitated for a second, but started talking about what happened that morning. He talked about the bloater, the surprise attack and Ryan and his group. He decided to skip details regarding his sister and appreciated Joel's silence about the topic.

"So the fireflies are dead..." Ellie said when he finished. News about Marlene death hit her hard, but the fall of the firelies was not something surprising, they've been struggling for a long time, it was just a matter of time, specially after they gave up looking for a cure. "And you say you know this Ryan, that means you..."

"I used to be a firefly, yes"

"It's kind of a big deal, why didn't you mention it before?"

"Everybody has secrets, if I don't see a point in revealing them, why should I?"

He was right, Ellie never told him about her immunity. Joel and Tommy were the only people in town who knew about her condition.

Joel talked next "You think Ryan is dangerous for the town?"

"He said he would be back and that it would not be pretty for us, and he meant it"

"We'll be ready" Ellie said.

"We'll be ready..." Jack repeated, trying to convince himself of it.

But he knew Ryan, they were not ready.


	16. Orphan

A/N: To answer cfulling3's question, no, right now I don't have a beta reader. But I've been looking for one.

If Someone reading this is a beta reader and is willing to help me with this story, please PM me. I'd appreciate it.

This chapter is another flashback (also extremely short). In the future I'll alternate between these and the main plot.

Well, I don't want the a/n to be longer than the chapter. So I'll leave you now, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 16: Orphan

6-years old Jack was walking through the streets of Boston with his sister. The two siblins were heading to the medical center.

The streets were populated by all kinds of people. Jack was scared of them, the two kids never left the apartment alone, Daddy told them not to, he told them people were dangerous.

But they didn't have a choice, Daddy wasn't there, they were looking for him, he was in danger.

"There!" Jane said. The medical center appeared in the distance. It was a huge red building, a big white cross painted on the side.

They started running towards the building, eager to leave the streets as soon as possible.

The lobby of the medical center was full of stretchers, people with various injuries occupied them. An old nurse was walking among them.

The kids rushed towards her.

"Calm down kids, these people need to rest, you know" The nurse said when they reached her.

"Where's daddy?" Jack asked.

"Who?"

"He went outside this morning, he told us he would be back for lunch, but he wasn't back, and then someone came to the apartment and told us he was here. Where is he?"

"Kid, I can't do anything if you don't give me a name" she seemed to be annoyed.

"Dale Jordan" Jane said.

The nurse thinked for a second and then looked back a them. She wasn't annoyed anymore, she was sad. "kids, there is a Dale Jordan here, but..."

"Is he okay?" Jack hurriedly asked.

"No, he's not okay"

Jack was young, but not stupid. He knew what the nurse meant by that. He looked at his sister, and she looked at him.

They were alone now.


	17. Note

A/N: I'd like to thank cfulling3 for his help.

* * *

Chapter 17: Note

A day after Ryan's attack, Jack was once more seated at Watchtower No. 2, alone. He was waiting for his next partner. Tommy told him he would send someone soon to replace Ron.

The outside looked empty, no one to be seen on the cliffs or near the treeline. But he knew he was being watched, Ryan wouldn't just leave the town alone.

A noise reached him from the ladder, someone was coming. Jack stood up and waited. Just seconds later, Ellie's head popped-out from the side of the watchtower.

"Ellie, what are you doing here?"

She reached the top and stood up. "Isn't it obvious, I'm your new 'tower buddy' " she was carrying her backpack and a hunting rifle.

"But you're too young," only people 18 years old or older were eligible for watch duties.

"Tommy decided I'm good enough, I've been trying to convince him of that for a long time."

"And Joel?"

"He will know... eventually"

Jack sighed, Joel was going to be pissed.

"Okay, but remember, I had nothing to do with this."

"Okay..."

"Repeat"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "I'll tell Joel you had nothing to do with this."

"Great" he sat down again.

Ellie left her backpack on the floor, took the other chair and sat down besides him."What now?"

"We wait for our shift to end," He was nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"We don't know if someone out there is about to pull the trigger, every second could be our last"

"You're thinking of Ron?"

"Yes" Jack looked down, he didn't want to admit it, but he was scared. Ryan was ruthless, unpredictable, and extremely dangerous. He also was charismatic enough to gather a group of followers. But above all, he was a genius, there wasn't a problem he couldn't solve, he always managed to get things done the way he likes it. Jackson was not prepared to face someone like him. If he wanted to destroy the town, then the town was doomed.

"We'll be fine," Ellie said.

"I hope..." Jack didn't get to finish the sentence before an arrow impacted the side of the watchtower with a loud metallic sound.

Ellie raised her rifle, Jack did the same thing. They scanned the area and found nothing, whoever shot the arrow was gone now.

Ellie slowly put down the rifle and turned her head to the now broken arrow, it was laying on the floor, just below the point it impacted. "Look at that" she pointed at it.

There was a note attached to the arrow. Jack took it and read it out loud.

"Hi Jack. I want to talk. Tomorrow night... smiley face"

Ellie looked confused, "what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow night."


	18. Visit

Chapter 18: Visit

Joel sat down at Tommy's office. Ryan's attack left people scared, and now they had to address this new threat.

"We need to know where are they hiding," Joel said.

"Okay," Tommy took an old map from his desk and unrolled it. The map represented Jackson and it's surroundings. "Where you think is the best place to start?"

Joel stared at the map for a while. Finally, he pointed to an empty green space, "Here."

"What makes you think they are there?"

"You didn't mark it on this map, but that's Jack's town"

"Oh, shit," Tommy took a pencil and drew a small house where Joel pointed. Then, he wrote 'Jack's town' next to it. "There... now, you think they are hiding there?"

"We haven't been there for almost a month, that's enough time for a group to move in... you got any other idea?"

Tommy thought about it for a second, "I'll send a scout tomorrow, it's a good start."

"Now, what about Ron? He left a vacancy at the watchtower." Joel asked a minute later.

Tommy stared at him with a confused look on his face "Ellie didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"She came here earlier this morning, I gave her the job," Tommy leaned back in his chair, expecting an outburst from him.

Joel remained silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then he stood up, walked towards the door and opened it.

"Joel, where are you..."

"To the watchtower"

Tommy also stood up "Joel, please..."

"NO!" Joel left the room, leaving Tommy alone.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Ellie asked Jack, who was still holding Ryan's note.

"Nothing," Jack said with a calm tone.

"What!?"

"Look, I know Ryan, this is probably just him messing with me. He wants me to be scared of what may happen tomorrow night."

"But..."

"I'm not saying he will not try anything tomorrow. I'm just saying we can't do shit about it, so we shouldn't worry too much," he read the piece of paper again and sighed, "Let's give this to Tommy, he will decide what to make of it."

Ellie didn't like the feeling of being useless. But against a threat like this, two teenagers wouldn't be able to do much, "You're right."

A noise reached them from the ladder and Joel's head appeared at the corner of the watchtower, followed by the rest of his body.

"Just for the record Joel, I had nothing to do with this," Jack said before anyone could say anything.

"Shut up, kid," Joel was pissed. He turned to Ellie, "You have anything to say?"

"Em... no"

"Good, now let's go," Joel gestured towards the ladder.

"But Tommy said..."

"Ellie, I don't care. This is dangerous and you're still too young, so c'mon," Joel was clearly trying not to lose his temper.

"Don't push him," Jack whispered into Ellie's ear.

Without saying anything else Ellie walked towards the corner and went down the ladder. Joel looked surprised.

"You didn't expect her to comply so quickly, did you?"

"No... what did you say?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing special, I guess I'm the voice of reason... she's capable, you know."

"I know," Joel said before going down the ladder, leaving Jack alone again.

* * *

Two days after Ryan's attack, Tommy was seated at his office, waiting.

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Tommy said.

The door opened and Derek came in "Tommy, why did you call me?" He sat down on the other side of the desk.

Tommy unrolled the map of Jackson, "I need you to check on this place, Derek" He pointed towards Jack's town.

"Let me guess, you think the new group is there."

"I do."

Derek thought about it for a second, "When?"

"As soon as possible."

"After lunch then, I should be back before dinner, it's just a couple of miles."

"Don't take any risks, go on foot."

"I know, I know, a horse can be too noisy."

Tommy stood up, "Remember, we only want to know if the town is occupied, nothing else, okay?"

"Understood," Derek stood up as well and walked towards the door.

"Derek," Tommy said before he could leave, "I have evidence they might try something tonight, so be careful, please."

"Don't worry, Tommy."

* * *

"You're for real, Joel?" Ellie asked.

"For real, once we deal with this new group, I'll let you join the watch. But for now, you stay here on the ground, okay?" Joel have been thinking about this the whole day. They were having dinner at the kitchen counter, the sky outside was already dark.

"That's a fucking deal," Ellie would prefer to start right now, but she knows this is the best she would get from Joel.

"What's the problem, kid? You're quiet tonight," Joel asked Jack.

"I'm tired, that's all," It was a lie, he was nervous. Tommy told him not to talk about the note with anyone, he didn't want to spread panic.

"It's about Ryan's note?"

"How did..."

"You really thought Tommy wouldn't tell me? I have the second night shift, everyone with watch duties tonight know about it. So don't worry, we're ready for anything."

Joel's words didn't help him, "I hope you're right."

Jack stood up, unable to eat more deer meat, "I'm going to sleep, I'll feel better on the morning," And without saying anything else, he left the kitchen and headed to his room.

He didn't even undress before jumping into the bed "the next time I open my eyes again, it will be morning, and everything will be fine," He murmured and closed his eyes.

Jack drifted away of the real world into his subconscious. He was a little kid now. He was back into his old apartment in Boston.

"I'll be back soon," Daddy told him before closing the door.

"He'll not be back, little Jack, he's dead now," he heard his own voice coming out of the walls. "He's dead and you're alone,"

"No, he'll be back, he always come back," Jack knew that was a lie, but the words came out of his mouth anyways.

"First him, then Jane. Just wait, and Jackson will follow. Sooner or later, you'll be alone again"

"Jack," this time he heard Ryan's voice, "Jack."

"I'm not afraid of you, you're not here" Jack stood still, unable to move.

"Jack," Ryan called for him again.

"You're not here."

"Jack... wake up."

"You're not here."

He opened his eyes. He was laying on his bed again. The lights turned on.

"Wow, electricity without the need of a generator, amazing." Ryan said.

It was impossible, but somehow, Ryan was there. He turned to Jack and grinned, "Your face is hilarious; I wish you could see it"

Ryan was carrying a black plastic bag in his left hand and a hangun in his right hand.

"How?" Jack managed to ask.

"Sneaking into the town was easy, figuring out where you live was also easy; almost no one here knows my face, so I just asked," Ryan turned off the lights and rested his back on the wall, right next to the open window, the lights from outside were enough to see him clearly. "I just want to ask you one thing: how are you still alive?"

Jack didn't say anything, both unable and unwilling to. But Ryan remained silent, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," The words came out almost as a whisper, even Jack could hear the fear in them. He sounded like a scared toddler. "I don't know how I survived."

"Interesting, so you have a tough side after all, even if it's hidden behind that scared little baby," Ryan turned around and faced the window.

"So that's all you wanted? You'll just leave now?"

"You just told me everything I wanted to know... and your face when you saw me made this little incursion worth the trouble. Oh, and I came across this in my way here, do whatever you want with it." he left the black bag on the floor.

A second later, Ryan was gone.

Jack slowly stood up and closed the window. His legs were shaking, he felt he could collapse at any moment. He turned to the black bag and, without waiting any longer, grabbed it, opened it and took a look inside. Derek's head stared back at him.


	19. Streets

Chapter 19: Streets

8-year-old Jack was starving. He had nothing to eat for days. The streets of Boston were empty due to the curfew. Jane was seated besides him, and they were hiding in a narrow alleyway; there was nothing but a lot of trash there.

"Attention, curfew now in full effect," They heard the familiar voice coming from a nearby street.

"I'm hungry, Jane," That was an understatement, both of them were at the verge of death.

"I know but..." She suddenly stopped and focused on something on her right, "Look."

Jack turned his head, a big rat was exploring a small pile of trash just a few feet away from them.

"You feel like moving now?" Jane whispered.

"Yes. What's the plan?" Jack answered, also whispering.

"Take that newspaper right there, I'm going to scare the rat, it'll run this way. You'll catch it. Okay?"

"Okay," Jack moved as slowly as possible, trying not to scare off the rat. He took a wet and dirty newspaper from the floor right next to him. "Do it."

Jane crawled a few feet away from him and located herself right behind the rat. She took an empty can from the floor and dropped it, producing a loud noise that echoed across the alleyway.

The rat immediately left the pile of trash and ran away from her, this was his chance. Jack raised the newspaper and covered the rat with it, creating an improvised cage.

He quikly took the rat's body, wrapped in the newspaper. It was shaking and twisting, trying to break free. He squeezed as hard as he could with his small hands until he heard a cracking noise, the rat stood still.

He dropped the lifeless body on the floor and unwrapped it.

"Dead?" Jane asked.

"Dead."

They had no means to build a fire, so Jack just ripped up the skin of the animal with his own hands and they both ate until the only thing left was a small pile of broken bones and fur.

"I'll never get used to raw meat," Jane commented after a long period of silence.

"That or dying, pick one."

"You're right."

The rat wasn't much, but it was enough to survive another day. They wouldn't have to worry about how to survive until the next day.


	20. Calm

Chapter 20: Calm

Joel was tense. Few times in the last year he felt like this.

He was at Watchtower No. 1, scanning the outside for the hundredth time that night. He had his rifle prepared for action; anything could happen at any time and he was ready.

"Joel!" Joel turned his head, a young man in his mid-twenties was staring at him. He had a pale skin, short blonde hair and dark eyes, and his beard made him look like a younger version of Tommy. "If you don't relax you're gonna make some rushed decisions."

"When dealing with the outside world rushed decisions are the ones that keep you alive, boy."

"Shoot first, ask later?"

"Just shoot, if you stop to ask, you're dead."

That idea seemed to disturb the young man. "Anyway, you should relax," He said before sitting down. "Ah, my legs were killing me."

"You're literally half my age, Dave," Joel was standing up, he have been walking around the watchtower for hours and he didn't even fell tired.

"Yes, I am. That means you probably have to rest too, you have been walking around for hours."

"I'm fine."

They remained silent while Joel examined the outside once again, the lights at the gate were enough to illuminate all the way to the treeline, so Joel didn't have much problems with the darkness of the night.

"You think they'll try something tonight?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, just be prepared."

"I am," Dave did seem nervous. He never shot at someone before, he only had experience with infected. Joel thought that could be a problem in case of a confrontation.

"You sure?"

Dave sighed, "No"

"Look, if anything happens tonight, or any other day. I need someone I can trust by my side."

Dave looked down and remained silent for a minute, "I'll be there," this time he sounded more confident.

"Good, now..."

The walkie-talkie on his waist emmitted a sound. Joel answered the call, "Watchtower 1."

"Joel," It was Tommy, "Come to my office, now"

"Something's wrong?"

"Yes, I'm sending someone to replace you. But you should be here."

"Tommy, What's wrong?"

Tommy paused before answering, "They snuck into the town and broke into your house, Ellie and Jack are here with me."

Joel didn't need to hear anything else.


	21. Problems

Chapter 21: Problems

Joel ran through the main street, focussing on locating the small white building in the darkness of the night. He saw it to his left, five minutes after abandoning the watchtower. He rushed to the entrance and got in.

This small edification, as unimpressive in the inside as on the outside, was basically a small one-story white house, but could be considered to be the brain of Jackson, every important decision was taken within its walls.

The living room was completely empty with the exception of three wooden chairs located near the wall at his right, this was some sort of waiting room. But Joel had no intention of waiting, he ran towards the door on his left, which had a small sign nailed to it that readed 'Tommy's office', and opened it.

Although Tommy said Ellie and Jack were okay, seeing them seated in front of his desk was a huge relief. The two teenegers stood up and Tommy did the same. The three of them remained silent. Joel took a minute to catch his breath.

"Are you two okay?" He asked, still breathing heavily.

"Not exactly," Ellie answered with a distant tone.

They slowly sat down again. Ellie's answer was not what worried Joel the most. The depressing atmosphere was enough to intuit something bad had happened.

"What..."

"This is what happened," Tommy interrupted him and pointed at a black plastic bag on the desk.

Joel walked towards it without hesitation, but he doubted before seeing what was inside. Jack, Tommy and Ellie remained silent. Whatever was in the bag, it was not good. Joel opened it, a disgusting but recognizable smell reached his nose.

"God..." There was a head inside, he instantly recognized Derek.

"I sent him to the town, I told him not to take any risks," Tommy said with a sad tone. Joel knew he felt guilty for sending one of his men to his death, but this was something a leader like him should be able to deal with.

Joel closed the bag, Tommy immediately stood up, took the bag and left it at a corner. He went back to his chair and collapsed into it, visibly exhausted, "At least we can say the mission was somewhat successful. Now all the evidence points to the town," Tommy whispered, more to himself than to anyone else.

Joel rested his back on the wall and the office fell silent again. Joel didn't understand exactly what happened yet, who brought the head? Did he or she just leave Jackson afterwards? What was the point of sneaking in?

"You think they are still here?" Joel asked. Based on Tommy's expression Joel could deduce what he was about to say.

"I have men looking for anything suspicious, if he's here, we'll find him."

"He?"

"Ryan."

Joel connected the dots, so Ryan snuck into the town without anyone noticing and left the head in his house, but why bothering? Why his house?. He could only think of one reason: Jack. He turned his head to the boy.

Jack hadn't said anything since Joel got there. He had his eyes closed and his arms crossed, and was muttering something in a very low, almost inaudible, voice, not paying attention to his surroundings. Joel have seen him do this before, usually when confronted with some sort of decision.

Both Joel and Ellie have grown accustomed to this habit, but Tommy was staring at him with a curious expression on his face.

Jack suddenly opened his eyes, he was clearly conflicted about something.

"Tommy," he said, "you have to make a deal with him."

Joel thought he was crazy, Ryan didn't seems like the kind of people you can negociate with, specially after what he have done.

Tommy seemed to think the same thing, he stared at Jack with the same expression as before, as if he found him amusing.

"That's a stupid idea," Tommy said, voicing his honest opinion.

"Please," Jack leaned forward, a worried expression on his face, "I know Ryan, if you offer him something good, he'll leave this place alone."

"And then what, kid? He'll come back looking for more. I'm not afraid of a small group of bandits, I dealt with stuff like this before," Tommy talked to him like he would talk with a stubborn child.

Jack stood up and raising his voice, he said, "You haven't dealt with this guy before! Ryan. always. wins, no matter what. Reaching an agreement is our only chance now," Jack's fear affected Joel more than his words. If Ryan was able to make him beg for something, that meant he was a force to be reckoned with. Ellie seemed to share his opinion.

Tommy stood up as well with a dark expression on his face, "All chance of peace with this new group died with Ron. I'm the leader here and I'm going to deal with this threat as I see fit, do you understand?" Tommy never liked people telling him what to do. After all, he was the leader for a reason.

"I don't-"

"I don't care," Tommy interrupted Jack mid-sentence. And keeping his tone calm, he continued "I'll not tolerate a goddamn kid questioning my decisions. Now, If you don't have anything useful to add, please leave. It's late and I have more important things to do than wasting my time with you."

Jack's fear slowly morphed into anger. Joel never saw him losing his temper, but apparently Tommy hit a soft spot.

Although Tommy conserved his cold expression, Joel could tell he was annoyed by the boy.

"Okay, so be it," Jack muttered, realizing he wouldn't be able to change Tommy's opinion, he turned around and opened the door, "I hope we don't regret this later," he said, struggling to keep his anger at bay, before leaving.

Joel had some experience with angry teenagers, he knew they could be unpredictable. "Ellie, make sure he reaches the house in one piece. Would ya?"

Ellie stood up and walked towards the door, "You aren't coming?" she asked with a hand on the doorknob.

"Later, now go, get some sleep."

Ellie opened the door and left, calling for Jack.

Joel closed the door and sat down on the chair Ellie occupied moments before. He sighed, trying to release some tension, he was mentally and physically exhausted.

"You wanna know what's the problem with him?" Tommy sat down, keeping a serious expression, "He doesn't know what's his role here."

In other circumstances Joel would have found Tommy's annoyance funny. But right now, they had a serious problem to deal with.

"You should listen to the boy."

Tommy couldn't believe what he just heard, "You say we should-"

"Of course not." Peace was not an option. Joel knew no one in Jackson would accept it, especially after what happened with Ron and now Derek. "I'm just saying that Jack seems to be afraid of Ryan and I bet there's a reason for-"

"I know, Joel," Tommy interrupted him and sighed, "Look, you'll have to trust in my judgement, okay?"

Joel nodded without hesitation. He trusted his little brother.

"Good. Now go get some sleep, god knows you need it."


	22. Toby

Chapter 22: Toby

Toby was resting his right shoulder on the side of a cabin at the edge of the 'town', a collection of small cabins and some two-storey houses, staring at the tree line in front of him, his flashlight was the only source of light. He didn't know for how much time he had been waiting for Ryan, but he was starting to get nervous, he was taking too long.

Ryan's whole plan was ridiculous. He would sneak into Jackson, have a talk with Jack and get out. Why? Toby didn't know. How? Toby also didn't know. But he didn't want to question him. Ryan might sound like a crazy guy, but he was the only reason he was still alive.

Toby was the one in the group who knew Ryan the most and the only one who knew Jack. Thinking about him and his time with the Fireflies always made him angry. First John and Jane died, then Jack suddenly disappeared, and when they finally reached Salt Lake City, just a pile of bones greeted them. Long story short, things weren't good.

"Doing some deep thinking?" A voice coming from behind made him jump, he quickly turned. Ryan was right in front of him, with a big smile on his face.

Toby took a minute to catch his breath. Ryan scared the shit out of him, but Toby was happy he returned, "You enjoy scaring the shit out of people, don't you?"

Ryan chuckled a couple of times before answering, "It's one of those things that never gets old," his smile slowly fade away. He turned to the town, lost in his thoughts. Toby remained silent, waiting for Ryan to continue.

"I had some time to think in my way back. Let me just ask you something, do you think I'm blind?" Ryan finally broke the silence, his voice lacking any trace of his usual cheerful tone. He turned back to Toby and looked him in the eye, "I can see how everyone here is starting to doubt, starting to ask questions about me, seemingly forgetting everything I've done for them."

Although Toby was taller than him, he felt tiny, "Everyone here thinks you are a great leader, we owe our lives to you," he said, doing his best to hide his fear.

"But..." Ryan urged him to continue, with a tinge of anger in his voice.

"Emm... some of the guys think you are not... handling Jackson very well, they believe this should have ended days ago," Toby looked down, feeling ashamed of himself.

"Some of the guys..." Ryan waited until Toby looked up at him to continue, "you included?

Toby nodded. "Th-the original plan was solid, calling off the attack was a mistake" he could feel the cold sweat on his back. Toby didn't knew how Ryan would react to him questioning his judgement and authority, he have never done that before.

Ryan shrugged, "Good," suddenly going back to his usual light-hearted tone of voice.

His attitude caught him off-guard, "Good?"

"Good to know people here can think by themselves. A group completely dependant on the leader is a weak group," his words were reassuring for Toby "Good night, Toby. And don't worry, I'll give details about what happened tonight tomorrow morning," Ryan said while turning on his own flashlight.

"Good night, Ryan."

His leader turned around and started walking away, his silhouette disappeared behind a corner a minute later.

Toby rested his back on the wooden wall of the cabin, breathing a sigh of relief, things turned out better than expected and he felt better now he finally voiced his concerns.

He remembered he was on shift, but everything seemed calm and he was more relaxed now that Ryan was back.

Walking down the main street, he kept his ears open for anything suspicious, aware a lone infected could ambush him at any moment.

"Toby," another voice coming from behind him made him jump again. He turned, the newest member of the group was standing in front of him. Stacy, a twenty-something pale brunette, gave him a smirk. "Sorry, did I scare you?" she said in a sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, you did," Toby said, "What are you doing awake so late?"

"It's 4 o'clock, your shift just ended, dummy."

Toby was surprised by this, it was really that late? This meant Ryan took longer than he thought coming back. But he was happy to been able to rest, he was exhausted. "Really? I guess time flies when you're bored shitless."

Stacy chuckled "Slow night?"

"As always, but keep your eyes peeled, okay?"

"Sure thing, I got this. Go get some sleep," Ryan accepted her into the group just a month ago, just days before reaching the small deserted settlement, and she seemed eager to prove her worth.

"Alright. See you tomorrow," Toby left her alone and headed towards a small cabin on the other end of town. He opened the front door, the cabin was composed by a single room, with just had a bed and a fireplace inside, but it was enough for him.

Toby unloaded his handgun and left it beside the bed, together with his jacket and a worn pair of boots.

He lay down on the mattress and, before he could think of anything, he fell asleep.


	23. An Answer

Chapter 23: An Answer

Jack woke up early in the morning. The sound of birds singing outside and the beautiful orange sunlight in his room brought a smile to his face, but the memories of what happened last night invaded his mind almost immediately, making him feel useless once again.

He remembered how he felt on the streets of Boston, knowing that all the people around him didn't care if he have something to eat, or a place to sleep. In those times he didn't even could afford to cook a rat. But back then he had a sister besides him. Having someone by his side suffering as much as he made it easier.

Now he was alone, waiting for a battle between Jackson and Ryan's group, not been able to do shit about it.

He stood up, he couldn't stand to be alone with his thoughts anymore, he needed a distraction. It was still early, the stable was probably closed and Ellie was probably asleep. Jack decided to kill some time reading, at least books never were unavailable. He took a look under the bed, where he expected to find his backpack. But this time the backpack wasn't the only thing under his bed.

What appeared to be a brown crumpled paper ball was lying next to his backpack. Jack took it, it was heavier than he expected. Upon closer inspection he realized it wasn't just a paperball, there was something inside.

He unwrapped the object, it was an old voice recorder. Apparently asking him a stupid question wasn't the only reason Ryan paid him a visit last night.

Jack looked at the piece of paper, something was written on it. He left the recorder at a side and read the letter:

_ Dear (or not so now) Jack,_

_As you know, I reached Salt Lake. This is a little something I found there. I figured you'll like to know why we are on this side of the country right now (or why your sister is dead). One last thing, you probably know this by now but I want it to be official, from now on I'll not consider you an ally any more, consider this my last favor._

_See you on the other side (or not),_

_ Ryan_

Jack turned to the recorder next to him. What was their mission all about? Why things happened the way they did? What made Salt Lake City so important? Why was Jane dead? He was burning for answers, so he accepted Ryan last favor. He took the recorder and pressed the small play button, almost immediately a male voice he didn't recognize resounded across his room:

"April 28th. Marlene was right. The girl's infection is like nothing I've ever seen. The cause of her immunity is uncertain. As we've seen in all past cases, the antigenic titers of the patient's Cordyceps remain high in both the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid. Blood cultures taken from the patient rapidly grow Cordyceps in fungal-media in the lab... however white blood cell lines, including percentages and absolute-counts, are completely normal. There is no elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and an MRI of the brain shows no evidence of fungal-growth in the limbic regions, which would normally accompany the prodrome of aggression in infected patients.

We must find a way to replicate this state under laboratory conditions. We're about to hit a milestone in human history equal to the discovery of penicillin. After years of wandering in circles, we're about to come home, make a difference, and bring the human race back into control of its own destiny. All of our sacrifices and the hundreds of men and women who've bled for this cause, or worse, will not be in vain."


	24. Peaceful Summer Morning

Chapter 24: Peaceful Summer Morning

Jack listened to the recorder again to be sure he didn't miss anything. He didn't understand half of the 'medicine related' words, but the message was clear. Somewhere, sometime, there was an immune girl, and the fireflies were experimenting on her, trying to produce a cure. Jack knew they never made it, he knew scientists and doctors within the fireflies doubted it was even possible to produce a cure.

But if there is one, then there must be others. When he left the fireflies, he convinced himself that humanity was heading towards extinction, he lost hope, but after hearing the recorder for a second time, he realized that there was hope for the future. Maybe not everything was lost for them, maybe this was not humanity's last breath. The idea that the human species was fighting against the infection, without the need of an artificial cure, brought a smile to his face.

The Fireflies were so slow to find a cure, that nature actually came out with it first. It was like the old story with the rabbit and the turtle. Jack knew things weren't that simple, but he found the thought funny either way.

His stomach's growling noises pull him back into the real world, he was starving. The tension of the last couple of days made him feel less hungry than usual, but now, after a long time, he was in a good mood, and that made him realize how hungry he was.

He carelessly threw the letter on the bed, put on his old sneakers, and turned around to face the door. He wandered what he would find in the kitchen and if it was going to be enough to satisfy his hunger.

But he forgot about his empty stomach when he opened the door. Joel was standing in front of him with a worried expression on his face. Based on his lack of reaction to the door suddently opening, Jack deduced Joel had been wainting for him to come out for some time.

"Joel... something's wrong?" The look on Joel's face was worrying him.

"I just... wanted to check on you. You seemed angry last night" Joel's tone expressed the same thing his expression did, something was troubling him.

"C'mon Joel, be honest" Jack came out of his room and closed the door, they where both now on the small corridor that connected the guest room with the living room. He rested his back on the wall next to the closed door, facing Joel. "What's wrong?"

Joel looked down at his hand "Can I see that?" He asked, raising an open hand.

Jack looked down, he didn't realize he was still holding on to the recorder. "Did you heard it?"

"I did" he gestured with his hand, urging him to hand it over.

Joel's tone made Jack doubt, but he didn't see any reason not to give him the small object.

He tought Joel would listen to it, but he didn't. He looked at the recorder on his hand as if he was looking at a disgusting bug, a bug that had to be crushed.

"Joel?"

Joel didn't respond, focusing on the device, tightening his grip. A small crack appeared on the screen.

"Joel!"

After a crackling noise, the recorder broke under the pressure. Joel muscles relaxed, he opened his hand, and the now useless device fell to the floor, where it split open, revealing it's crushed contents.

"Why...?" Jack asked, incredulous.

"That's not your business, kid" Joel seemed angry, this was not a time to ask any question. "Just..." Joel said, demanding Jack's full attention "Please..." Joel managed to soften his tone "don't talk about this" he finished, staring at what remained of the recorder.

His words caught him off-guard "Y-you mean, the immune stuff and the..."

"Yes" Joel didn't want to leave any doubt about it.

Jack stared at him, still surprised by his reaction to the recording. "What's the problem, Joel?"

"Just... Ellie can't know... no one can know... about this"

"Sorry Joel, I can't keep this kind of thing to myself..."

"Well, you'll have to" Joel snapped, struggling to keep under control. He was unstable, and Jack decided that pushing him any further could prove dangerous. He'll have to wait some time before getting any answer from him.

So he just slowly nodded, agreeing to keep silent about the topic, at least for the moment "Okay, Joel. Just calm down, alright?"

Joel looked down at what was left of the recorder and then he just turned around and walked down the hallway, dissapearing into the living room.

What the fuck was that? Joel was a misterious guy, but this couldn't go unanswered for long, both of them knew that. Jack looked down at the wreckage, just a moment ago that thing managed to brighten up his day. But a good mood never last.

Jack spent five minutes collecting every piece left of the device. He had some experience repairing electronics, but soon he decided there was no point in trying, the thing was useless now and nothing would change that. He rushedly left the pieces next to Ryan's letter on his bed, he would think about what to do with it later.

When he entered the living room, it was empty, no sign of Joel or Ellie. It was better this way, he needed peace. From there he could see the kitchen counter at his right, he walked towards it, passing in front of the only furniture in the living room, the dusty green couch.

Before seeing the plate on the counter he could already smell the leftovers from last night's dinner, deer and beans. He satisfied his hunger and left the rest in the fridge.

A single stare at the desolate kitchen was enough for him to realize there wasn't much to do there. Jack walked towards the almost empty living room and opened the front door.

It was still early in the morning, so the street was empty, without any sign of life. Jack turned his head to the wachtower, he spotted the usual duo of guards on top. His next shift was the next morning, so he still had a day off.

He closed the door behind him, took a deep breath, and started walking through the empty streets, thinking about what happened in the last hour.

Ryan left a recorder in his room, a recorder that confirmed the existance of an immune person, apparently the fireflies were running experiments on her. Joel wanted to keep that a secret for some reason, so he destroyed the evidence and asked him to keep his mouth shut. And that was pretty much it. What was Joel hiding? Asking him directly was a bad idea right now, so Jack decided to leave the matter on hold. They had bigger concerns.

The house was far away now, Jack left his worries aside, trying to focuss on 'the now' for a change. It was a beautiful morning and he should enjoy and appreciate it. Been able to enjoy a morning walk was priceless.

"Hey, weirdo!"

Jack stopped, closed his eyes and sighed. The voice was coming from his right, so he turned. He was passing in front of an alley, and in this alley, there was a group of people, looking at him, some of them with smirks on their faces, others with fake serious expressions (probably meant to intimidate him in some way, but he wasn't sure). 'The kids our age', as Ellie called them, or 'That bunch of assholes', as he called them.

The leader of the 'gang' was a pale boy, a year older than Jack, named Noah. He was not much taller than him, but had an imposing figure nonetheless. Anyone who didn't know him would have been intimidated. But Jack knew him, and if anything he was amused by him and the rest of the group. All of them were either born in Jackson or arrived with their families at a very young age. They were the kind of people that took everything for granted and had no idea of how bad and desperate the situation was outside the walls, but on top of that, and what really angered him, they considered outsiders to be a bunch of inferior, useless cavemen. The idea of a group of people like that was both fascinating and disturbing, and Jack didn't want to have anything to do with them.

Following Ellie's advice, he usually just ignored them. But this time he was not in the mood to accept nothing coming from a group of dipshits.

"There's a problem?" He said as calmly as he could.

"Oh look, he talks!" Some of his friend chuckled, the rest kept their annoying smirks directed at Jack.

"What's your problem?" He couldn't conceal the anger in his voice anymore.

"You are my problem" Noah took a step closer "You people come here, eat our food, use our energy, occupy our space. Why don't you just go away, back into the woods? After all, you must miss sleeping on the ground and hunting rats with a stick, those were the fun days, doesn't it?"

_ 'That's it'_. Jack acted by instinct, he didn't even have time to feel a new wave of anger before hitting him in the face, with a force previously reserved only for life threatening enemies.

Noah immediately fell to the ground with an expression of utter surprise, blood coming out of his nose and a couple of teeth less.

Jack immediately regreted it. He looked up at the group of people in front of him. Some of them shared Noah's expression, but the majority seemed ready to jump on him at any second.

Twelve against one. He was in some deep shit. But running away now would just empower them, so fuck it.

Two of his friends helped Noah stand up, he was barely conscious and the blood coming out from where his missing teeth where just a minute ago made it difficult for him to speak, but after struggling for a bit he managed to say a couple of words. "You're dead" an enormous amount of blood came out of his mouth and formed a small pool of blood formed on the dirt.

"Hey!" An unknown voice reached them from the street, Jack turned, a woman in her forties was walking towards them with a severe expression directed towards him, she was brunette, but several strands of gray hair were starting to show. Jack have seen her before, walking around the town, but he didn't know her name.

She placed herself between Jack and the bunch of angry teenagers, examining Noah's wounds. "You hit him?" She asked Jack.

"I did" he answered.

The woman then focused on the floor and, one by one, started looking for Noah's teeth. 'The gang' remained silent, not willing to act violently in the presence of a grown up.

After a minute she stood up, holding five bloody teeth on her right hand. "Take these and go to the infirmary, immediately" She handed the teeth to one of his friends.

Noah started mumbling something, but the effort proved to be to much. He fell to the ground for a second time, face first this time, he was unconsious.

"Holy shit" the dude with the teeth muttered while grabbing Noah by his arm. Without anyone saying anything, the group turned around and started moving away from Jack and the woman, carrying their fallen leader.

When the last one of them left the narrow alley, she turned around to face Jack, who was wondering in what kind of problem he was in now, it will surely be better than been beaten down by an angry mob.

"Nice fucking job, kid" a smile appeared on her face.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I'm 45, and I've never seen someone so wrecked in my life. That's saying something, trust me"

"You're not angry?" He said, unable to believe his luck.

"Of course not, I hate that fucking kid" The woman raised a hand "You must be Jack"

"That's me" he shook her hand "and you're?"

"Esther" She looked at the hand she was holding "The hand's not looking good"

Jack took a look at his hand, it was bleeding. As soon as he looked at the state of his hand, he realized the pain on his knuckles was worse than he thought.

"I think I shoudn't have hit him so hard"

"Believe me, it worth it" her friendly smile made him forget the pain for a bit "If I'm not mistaken you live at Joel's, right?"

"For now, why?"

"I was looking for him" She checked the left pocket of he jeans and extracted a green plastic soldier with a rifle on his hands "would you give him this, please?" She handed the green little guy to him.

"Why?" he examined the soldier, there was nothing special about it.

"Trust me, he'll get the message. So?"

"I'll give this to him"

"Great" Esther turned aroud once again "I'm in a rush, try not getting into much trouble, ok?"

"Sure" She left the alley, leaving him alone once again.

The streets were now more populated, people was coming out from their homes, following their daily routines.

Jack decided to head towards the house, maybe Ellie was awake now.

The sun still had an orange tone, he still had the whole day ahead of him


	25. Fireflies (Part 1): Hunger

Chapter 25: Fireflies (Part 1): Hunger

11-years-old Jack was focusing all his attention on the small cube on his hands, colors moving left, right, up and down. Patterns, lines, colums. Everything slowly arranging just a he wanted.

"Done!" Jack said triunphantly holding the solved cube on his left hand.

"Wow" Jane was seated next to him, both of them resting their backs on a rusty dumpster in an alley, staying out of sight from the street.

"So?" Jack asked.

His sister took a second to answer "84 seconds"

Jack was happy with that, he gave her a big smile. "At least I'm better than you on something"

"Okay, what's the secret?" She took the cube from his hand and examined every one of its faces.

"There's no secret" he said.

She threw a skeptical look at him "Yeah, of course not"

"Look, to solve the thing you need to..." he was struggling to find the words "... to know... know how it works"

" I know how it works, you twist it and it change" She then started playing with it until the cube was once again a mess of colors "See, changed"

" I meant... you need to know how it works, not what it does" he retrieved the cube and threw it into the old backpack he had between his legs "For example, the center pieces are in a fixed position that never changes, no matter what; but the corners and edges are all interchageable. If you understand the functioning, sooner or later you'll start seeing patterns. It's impossible to solve it with random moves."

His sister didn't say anything, she remained silent with her eyes locked in the distance, lost in her thoughts. "you have a lot of free time" she finally said with a smile.

Her comment didn't cheer him up as it was intended. She accidentally hit a soft spot.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have so much time to waste on a toy if you..."

"Jack" She interrupted him, knowing where he was going "we already been through this"

"But... "

"Jack... I'm your older sister"

Jack hated that question, it was her 'win argument'. He sighed to show her how annoyed he was by this, resulting in little to no effect.

She rested a hand on his shoulder "And what's the old sister's job?"

He knew the answer, he was reminded of it all the time. But answering her question was admitting defeat, so he took some time to do so.

"Provide"

"Yep, you're my responsibility, and that means I'll keep you alive no matter what. I'm not letting you risk your life just because you fell guilty"

"I just want to be helpful"

"And you are"

"How? All I do is sitting around in some super dirty spot and play with the rubik or read that fucking book, all this while you are around, trying to find something I wouldn't instantly throw up, I can't do nothing while you..."

"As I just said" She said as softly as humanly possible "You. are. not. useless, Jack"

He was going to respond, but a low hum coming from the street behind them demanded their attention.

Jack wasn't sure what was that "It's a..."

"Shh"

The low hum slowly turned into the sound of several vehicles, a convoy.

"What's the..."

"Jack, please shut up" Jane said urgently.

Jack wasn't sure if anyone on the street could've heard him over the deafening sound coming from what he suspected were giant truck after giant truck. But his sister seemed nervous, and this was not the moment to generate unnecessary tension.

Finally the loud and confusing noises of the convoy turned again into a distant hum.

Jane stood up and checked the street, getting sure there was no one left. She sat down besides him once again.

"Where you think they were going?" He asked.

"It was a big one, so probably outside the wall"

"Fireflies?"

She shrugged "Don't know, maybe just a patrol" she remained silent for a little while before speaking again "c'mon, we should leave this place"

"Why?"

"They used this street and there's no reason to believe this was the last time, so we should get as far away as possible from this place" She stood up.

He couldn't argue with that logic. "Alright; help me out, then" she helped him stand up and almost immediately the familiar feeling of weakness and dizziness struck him, almost sending him back to the floor.

"How are you feeling?" She said with a note of guilt on her voice.

"I'm fine, I'm fine... I just need some..."

'Food. I need food' He thought, but he couldn't bring himself to openly say it, after all Jane was doing the best she could. The last time he had anything to eat was days ago, and it was starting to affect him.

"...I'm okay" he finished.

She took the backpack from the floor and handed it to him. "Hold on to this and follow me, if you need to rest..."

"Yeah, sure. Let's go" He put on the backpack.

Jane rolled her eyes, turned around and started walking away from the street. Jack followed her.

They moved across the decaying buildings, avoiding any street when possible; sticking to alleyways most of the time.

They only walked for 10 minutes before Jack's strenght started failing him. The backpack was getting heavier by the minute and a small pile of dirty paper a few steps ahead of him looked like a very confortable mattress.

"Hey..." He said, trying (and failing) not to sound weak or tired "It's enough, we're safe here"

"We've just..."

"C'mon, sis, I know you're as tired as I am... I can't go any further right now"

His breath was getting heavier, for the first time in days he felt concerned about his health.

"I'm sorry" She said.

"Don't be..." He carefully sat down, sighing with relief "Please, don't be"

His sister sat down besides him and helped him take off the backpack, placing it again between his legs.

"Where are we heading?" Jack asked after a moment of silence.

"What?"

"Everyday you look for food, then we eat and then we stay hidden until the next day. I mean, what's next? One day we'll just die?" It was a little thing that has been nagging him for years. What was the plan? They'll just continue doing the same shit for what was left of their lives?.

"That's your empty stomach talking" As always she was avoiding difficult questions, next she would use it as an excuse to look for something to eat. "I'm taking a look around, I may find something good"

"Of course" he said, annoyed to no end by not been taken seriously. His sister seemingly didn't care about the future. Maybe she knew there wasn't any for them.

She was gone a minute later, leaving him alone in the relative safety of a new alleyway.


	26. Consequences

Chapter 26: Consequences

Jack opened the front door and got into the house. The living room was empty as expected, but there was a bright light coming out of the kitchen. He took a look at his bleeding nuckles; there weren't any sign of it stopping, he needed bandages. He covered the bleeding wounds with his healthy hand and walked towards the kitchen.

He passed through the open door into the kitchen, the lights were on and Ellie was seated on the counter, finishing up a recently opened can of beans.

"Good morning" She said, putting the now empty can down. There was nothing strange in the way she talked, but the look on her face was definitely not usual, she seemed to be trying to express something to him, he understood almost immediately what she wanted, 'let's just not discuss what happened last night' he agreed with that.

"Good morning, Ellie" he looked away from her and walked around the counter towards the shelves , where he expected to find some bandages for his hand. Ellie's eyes followed him across the room.

"Who's the lucky one?" She asked.

"Sorry?"

"I mean, I'd like to think you didn't just randomly hit a wall. So... who's the lucky one?"

Jack took a paper napkin from a shelf next to the old rusty fridge and tried to stop the bleeding with it. It didn't work.

"Fuck..." He left the now red and useless wet napkin at a side and kept looking for some bandages, he definitely saw some around. "Okay, Ellie" he continued "make a mental list of people you think I'd like to punch in this place, our lucky guy is probably your first pick"

"But Noah is huge" She said after a moment of silence.

"And has a hard skull" blood was pouring out of the open wound, but no matter how hard he looked for them, the fucking...

"hey"

"What?" He turned around. Ellie was still seated where he found her, only this time she was waving around a roll of gauze. He rushed towards her and took the bandages. "You like to see people suffer or what?" He said with some annoyance in his voice.

"The thing was next to me the whole time, it was your fault"

He wrapped his hand with the gauze, the preassure around the wound amplified the pain a little bit, but at least he was not spilling blood all over the place any more.

"So what happened?" Ellie asked him.

He sat down in front of her, he looked once again at his bandages small red spots started forming on the gauze surface.

"What do you think? I came out for a walk and the guy came in looking for trouble" the small red spots were growing, the gauze wasn't working as he expected. "Fuck..."

"You should get that checked, you know"

"Probably" he sighed. He never went to the infirmary before, there was something about trusting your health to others that deeply disturbed him, only a few times in his life he received attention of some sort; and in none of those cases he had another option. Now it was just a bleeding hand, but being stubborn about it wouldn't help. So he decided to give the infirmary a chance "Yeah, you're probably right"

He stood up and headed towards the door "you coming?"

"Sorry, Jackie. I promised Danny I'd help him with Ray"

Ray, the stallion, fell from a small cliff two week ago in a supply run; broking one of his legs and, even worse, the back of his skull. Jack didn't know who was with him, but somehow they managed to bring him back to Jackson in time to save his life. Now the stallion was recovering at the stable. By all accounts, it was a miracle the horse was still alive.

"C'mon, Ellie" he really didn't want to visit a doctor alone.

"Sorry, but I stick to my promises"

"Since when?"

"Since..." she was struggling to find the right words "...right... now". Ellie stood up as well.

Both of them walked into the living room, Ellie opened the front door. "Come to the stable afterwards, alright? Ray will appresciate it" she left the house, leaving the door open.

"He's a fucking horse" he muttered, the bandages were almost completely red now. How can knuckles bleed so much?

He was going to leave also, but then he felt the small greed soldier in the left pocket of his jeans.

He rushed into the kitchen once again, grabbed one napkin and, using a pencil he found resting on the fridge, wrote just two words 'from Esther'. He left the note and the small plastic figure on the counter.

He left the house and closed the door 10 seconds later, heading for the first time in his life to Jackson's infirmary. He only saw the building from the outside once before, it used to be a small elementary school before the outbreak, so it had a fairly unique form when conpared with the surrounding buildings, basically a giant and boring orange-ish rectangle with a big front door.

It was near in comparison with the stable, so after just 5 minutes he found himself in front of the door. He imagined an excited 8 years-old boy, 2 decades ago, anxious to attend the first day of school after the summer break. He was anxious for completely different reasons.

As his healthy hand approached the doorknob, a revelation dawned on him._ ' I'm afraid of doctors'_ but it's too late to chicken-out now.

With a deep breath, he got into the building.


	27. Doc Steve

Chapter 27: Doc Steve

Jack found himself in a long empty corridor, there were two doors next to him. One at his left, which had a big gaping hole on it that let him see what used to be a classroom, now an empty room full of grass, weeds, cracks on the walls and a chalkboard hanging on the wall. This place definitely saw better times. The second door at his right had nothing special, only a sign that readed 'restricted'. Jack bet there was a good reason for that sign to be there, so he kept moving through the creepy, pooly illuminated corridor.

He could see four doors in the long corridor, but only one caught his attention. It wasn't different for the other ones exept for the sign nailed to it, 'Doc Steve'. Jack placed his hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. He opened the door.

He was greeted by the very reassuring sound of moans and grunts. There were only two people in the room apart from him, one was Noah, he was laying on a table with his mouth wide open, surrounded by dry blood. Most of his teeth were once again on their original positions, but there was still a noticeable hole in the middle, the area surrounding his nose and moth had acquired a dark purple tone, his nose was probably broken. The second person in the room could be no other than the doctor, Steve. He was a balding old man, probably around his sixties. Jack was seeing him from behind, so he couldn't see his face. Steve was in front of Noah, grabbing a tiny object from a plate at his left.

"Alright, this is the last one" Steve said before lining up the detached tooth with the hole it previously occupied and just putting it back in place, granting a new painful grunt from Noah. If the boy on the table was anyone else, Jack would've felt sorry for him. But in this particular case he deserved everything that was happening to him.

"Done" Steve sounded satisfied, "Remember, avoid solids, try not to speak too much and come back tomorrow morning"

Noah stood up with difficulty and keeping his eyes fixed on the grond and without saying anything, he slowly and awkwardly walked towards the door, opened it with some effort and left, leaving Jack and Steve alone in the room.

The doctor laid his eyes on him and offered a friendly smile, "complete heterochromia iridum"

"Sorry?" Jack was sure he heard wrong.

"Each eye has a completely different color, a fairly uncommon condition on humans, most commonly found in cats or dogs. And no, I didn't know all that before you came to this place, I looked it up when I heard the rumors" he walked towards a small workbench on the right corner of the room and took a folder and a pencil from the top of a fairly big pile of papers "sit down" he pointed at a wooden chair on the left side of the room, Jack quickly obliged. "This is your first time here, that means I'll make a little profile of you and then I'll see that hand if that's okay. Stand up"

"You're fucking with me, right?"

"Yes and no"

Jack sighed and stood up.

"Feelin' dizzy?"

"No"

"Annoyed?"

"Yes"

"Afraid?"

"Why I would be...?"

"Exactly" Steve excitedly interrupted him, "I noticed you were a little bit uncomfortable" he said "annoyance is always a good cure for that"

"That's ridiculous" he had to admit, he momentarily forgot about the butterflies in his stomach.

"I'm sure it is" Steve said with a sarcastic tone, he then opened the folder in his hands, it contained a single sheet of paper, it had nothing written on it. "So, shall we begin?"

"Sure" Jack was a little bit confused by the guy, but although he wasn't leaving the best first impression, he wasn't leaving the worst either.

"Name?"

"Jack"

Steve wrote it down.

"Age?"

"18"

"Stand up next to that wall, please"

Jack turned his head in the direction he was pointing, a section of the wall next to the door had some markings showing numbers on it, he understood the point, Steve wanted to know his height. He was curious about that as well. He standed next to the numbers on the wall.

" 5'9", average. You can sit down now, if you want"

He wrote his height down while Jack moved across the room and sat down once again. The doctor kept writing stuff down.

"What are you writing?"

"Just some observational stuff... any health problem I shoud know about? Any condition?"

"I don't think so"

Steve nodded. "Well, I have no choice other than to trust you on that. Your healthy hand, please" Jack raised his hand and he grabbed it, placing his thumb on his wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Counting your beats... take a deep breath, please"

Jack decided not to question him or to ask him to stop saying please so often. He took a deep breath. Steve consulted his wristwatch, the first one Jack ever saw working.

"70 beats per minute, good enough" he freed his hand and wrote it down. "Open big, please"

Jack wasn't sure what he wanted, but nevertheless he opened his mouth and the doctor took a look inside.

"It's actually nice to see a set of teeth whose only problem is been a little yellow-ish" he put a pair of gloves he had in his pocket on and proceeded to touch his teeth one by one, trying to identify any problem with them. "A nice set indeed" he said signaling him to close his mouth and once again he wrote something down on the folder.

"Let's see; name, age, average height, a general description, note: small scars on the left side of his face, no identified health condition,average beats per second and relatively healthy teeth. That's enough for a profile, unfortunately, I have no means to measure weight or blood preassure right now, so... here" he extracted a pamphlet from his pocket and handed it to him, it read 'dangers of high blood pressure' "if any of those symptoms start showing please let me know, alright?"

"Sure" he placed the pamphlet in his pocket.

"Okay" Steve closed the folder and wrote 'Jack, heterochromia boy' on it. He left the folder and the pencil on the same spot they were before. "Let's focus in your immediate problem"

Without asking for permission, he took his hand and unwrapped the bloody bandages, blood was no longer coming out from the wound like before, but there was still enough blood to be considered alarming. Steve was still using the gloves he used to check his mouth. He started pressing around the main wound.

"I'm checking if there's any broken bones" he let Jack know "no" he removed the gloves, now stained with blood "follow me to the table, please" Jack did, he sat down at the long table and place his hand where Noah's head was just ten minutes ago. Doctor Steve went once again to the workbench and started looking for something underneath it. A minute later he stood up, holding a bottle full of what seemed like water.

"That's water?" Jack asked.

"No, it's a little thing I created for cases like these. I'll not explain exactly what it is, it's too complex. I'll just say this is basically alcohol and salt." He placed the empty glass bottle right next to him and opened it; a strong, unidentifiable and disgusting smell came out of it. "I'll pour it on the wound, it'll burn, okay?"

"You're the doc"

Steve took the bottle and without any other warning, poured some of the substance directly on the wound. It didn't hurt as much as he expected, but it did burn and was definitely an unpleasant feeling.

"Now what?" Jack asked.

"Now we wait and see how it reacts"

He sat down next to him without taking the eyes of the wound.

"So... how long have you been here?" Jack asked to avoid falling in an uncomfortable silence.

"I was accepted here by Maria's father 10 years ago. Believe me, things were really different back then, more turbulent" The doctor answered, still keeping his eyes on the wound "I've been treating people here ever since"

"And before that?"

"You like to ask questions, I see" he looked at him this time.

"Otherwise the wait would be boring"

"Good reasoning, right there" he doubted for a second before continuing "I don't thik you'll believe me if I told you"

"Test me"

"Okay, boy. I... was a doctor and the government tasked me and a group of selected professional from around this side of the country with researching and discovering as much as we could of the infection, this was more or less a year after the initial outbreak"

"Like firefly scientists?"

"I don't think Fireflies were a thing back then, but all I know for sure is that we spend almost half a decade in an underground lab somewhere in nevada. And let me tell you it wasn't nice. We had some... alive samples"

"You had infected down there?"

"We called them 'human hosts'. Well, we actually called them Steve Jr. And Little Zach and those two really taught us a lot, unfortunately we never were able to achieve anything close to a cure" The old man seemed angry about that.

"So, what did you learn?" He was really curious about anything related to the infection. And the doctor could be a mine of new info.

"Nothing really useful, but interesting nontheless. We found out that the first area of the brain affected by cordyceps is the frontal lobe, an area of the brain associated with human behavior, it damages a wide area, causing the human host to basically lost most of it's unique human characteristics, basically turning him or her into no more than a really smart wild animal. But that's not the most interesting part" he seemed exited of being able to talk so much about the topic, he clearly found it fascinating "the interesting part is that the infected human host in the first few hours after 'turning' is not violent against other humans, but it starts showing violent behavior after a very curious thing happens, we discovered that cordyceps turns its human host into a killing machine by means of positive reinforcement"

"Meaning?"

"During an episode of violent behavior cordyceps releases a fuck ton of adrenaline into the bloodstream, potentialy doubling the strength of a host and reducing the feeling of pain , during these episodes we also saw an increase in the levels of dopamine, suggesting some sort of reward system. The host decides he likes it and repeats the process whenever it's possible, human hosts become addicted to violence."

He once again looked back at the wound, it was dry now. "Look, I could be talking about infected for hours, so it's better if I stop now" he stood up and grabbed a roll of gauze from under the workbench, he quikly wrapped his hand with it, it felt much better now. "You might have a fissure fracture, so if you notice pain in the area increases, then come back, okay?"

"Sure, and thank you"

"This is what I do"

Jack opened the door and faced the corridor that lead to the front door of the former school "Bye, doc"

"Bye, Jack"

He started walking towards the front door, for some reason the long corridor seemed much more illuminated than before.

It wasn't that terrible.


	28. Morning Meeting

Chapter 28: Morning Meeting

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And Luke was without a doubt that link, that was the main reason his absence was so annoying, not only for him, but also for the rest of the group. Everyone was seated down on the grass in front of the porch of the biggest house in the place, waiting in silence for the last member of the group to show up.

Minutes passed by and the atmosphere was getting tense. He stood still, patiently waiting, wondering what kind of excuse Luke was going to give for his incompetence. It was somewhat entertaining for him. What wasn's fun was to figure out what to do with him, he should punish him? Just tell him to be in time next time? Ask him to be more responsible? No, this wasn't kindergarten. Public humiliation seemed like a good option. But ultimately the truth was that he didn't know what to do with him, but he was inventive, he'll figure that out. Chances of Luke having a convincing or clever excuse for his absence were slim, but maybe he should let him speak first, for the laughs.

"Ryan?"

"Toby?"

"You think we should go look for him?"

"No" he simply answered.

Toby didn't argue with him and went back to his spot on the porch, facing the silent group of people, and sat down on the wooden steps once again.

Finally; after what seemed like an eternity, but were probably just ten minutes, a figure appeared at the settlement's edge, a young man in his twenties running towards them, he seemed worried, even from a distance. At least he knew he was in trouble.

Luke reached the group; breathing heavily, he looked at Ryan. Afraid of what he might say.

"So Luke, you remember what I did this morning?"

Luke opened his mouth to answer, but Ryan, deciding it was better for everyone if he kept his excuses for himself, raised a hand, inviting him to keep his mouth shut.

"I'll tell you what I did this morning. I cutted my hair, because I like it short. I ate breakfast, the last I had left from Salt Lake, by the way. Then I left the house and knocked every fucking door in this place to get sure everyone knew a meeting was taking place right here 'in exactly one hour'. You yourself said 'sure thing'. That was an hour and a half ago, so you're either really fucking retarded, or you are just really fucking dumb. I don't care which one, and as no one else cares, I'll stop right now. You're going to sit down and you all are going to hear what I have to say, understood?"

Luke didn't waste time, he sat down immediately, keeping his mouth shut and looking down, ashamed. There were now 15 people seated on the grass at his feet; some of them had a smile on their faces, others were watching him with a worried or serious expressions. All of them were curious. Normally they would meet at the same spot every day before sunset. Ryan would say one or two things about safety and made a quick read of the inventory. Morning meetings were not common, it meant he had something special to tell them, and everyone was curious to hear what he had to say.

"Okay... " Ryan continued "I'll be honest with you, we're having serious problems, the shortage of food isn't getting any better"

"That's your fault" A man said. Ryan looked for whoever said that, he found him immediately. Aiden, a man around his age, was giving him a defiant stare. Aiden resented him and was always pointing out his flaws whenever he got a chance.

Some people seemed to agree with him this time, Ryan didn't mind them. He also noticed other people was giving Aiden a look of disapproval, a portion of the group was still willing to defend him, he found that reassuring.

"So..." Ryan ignored Aiden, he had a lot of work ahead, and to fuel a pointless discussion wouldn't be helpful "hunting is our only option. Now, I'm aware I said it could be dangerous, this is not exactly a friendly neighborhood..."

"And whose fault is that? You are the one who killed a couple of them, just last night..."

"He was a spy" Toby said. Stories about Ryan's actions last night were spreading insanely fast.

Ryan turned his head back murmured at Toby "Don't help" he was just encouraging Aiden.

"I'll decide who goes out. If you are chosen, just know that everything north from here is off limits, let's not take any chances..."

He was interrupted again for a third time In one meeting, probably a record "So now you say..."

"For the love of God, shut up!" Luke yelled at him, sparkling some laughter among the group "Ryan's probably the reason we are not dead, you should be grateful. He made a mistake, get over it."

Ryan didn't know this side of Luke, it made him reconsider his opinion about him. That was a rare occurrence.

Aiden looked at Ryan once again, visibly angry. But he remained silent.

"You know what, let's keep this short, I already said pretty much everything I wanted you to know. So lets go back to work, I believe everyone has something to do."

One by one, everyone stood up. Aiden still seemed annoyed, to say the least.

"Stacy, Luke, come here" he turned "you too, Toby" the three of them walked towards him.

"What's the matter?" Stacy asked him.

"First of all, Luke, if I ever annoyed you or insulted you in any way, I take it back"

"You welcome" he seem satisfied with himself for a change.

"Now, you three are the first group going out tomorrow, okay?" The three of them nodded, eager to show their value. "Good, meet me here tomorrow morning as soon as you wake up. Remember Luke, early."

"I'll be here before any of you" Luke said.

"Highly doubt it"

"Ryan" Stacy spoke again "what about Jackson? You know we'll not survive winter by storing meat, it rots. We need..."

"I'm working on it" Ryan said with a tone that suggested they should abandon this topic.

Luke and Stacy were gone shortly after.

"So...?"

"I'm working on it" Ryan said, guessing Toby's intention. "Come on, I'm sure you have things to do" without waiting for an answer he entered the house's porch and opened the front door.

He found himself in an empty room. There was a door at his left, he opened to reveal his room, consisting on an old mattress on the floor and a small desk at the wall next to the door at his right. There was a folded map on it, the only useful thing he found on the spy's corpse.

He took it and unfolded it. The map showed Jackson and its surroundings. Their little settlement was marked on it next to the words 'Jack's town'. For some reason Ryan found that extremely curious.

He focused on Jackson itself, the main buildings and locations were all marked on the map. The spy definitely made a mistake by bringing this map with him.

"Okay, let's get some work done"


	29. The Useful and the Useless

Chapter 29: The Useful and the Useless

Already inside the place, Jack hit the wooden door with his healthy hand to make his presence known. The only thing that seemed out of place was Ray, the stallion, laying on the floor in the middle of the stable, between the two rows of stalls. Ellie and the Danny, both seated on the floor next to the animal, were focusing their attention on the wounded horse.

"No greetings for wounded Jack?"

He walked towards them, the horse had bandages covering his left hind leg, his broken leg, but what was really astonishing was the hole on the back of his head.

"Hi, wounded Jack" Ellie responded, keeping her eyes on the horse.

Danny stood up and they shook hands. As usual, Jack felt somewhat intimidated by his towering figure, but he forgot about that feeling as soon as he started talking with his soft, calm voice. "Good morning Jack, nice to see you"

"Same"

"Good kid. C'mon, join us"

Danny went back to his original position besides Ellie.

"Later, maybe" he walked towards one of the stalls at his right, a little sign nailed next to one of the improvised doors readed 'Callus the Second' "May I?"

"Of course, you're his first rider after all"

He opened the door, the familiar horse stared at him, with his ears foward, while Jack closed the door behind him. Callus greeted him by nickering and moving a few feer closer. Unlike the first time they met, he seemed calm. "Hi buddy" he scratched the horse's nose with his healthy hand. Callus offered little to no resistance. "How's Danny treating you?" The horse remained silent, Danny taught him to identify the signals of disconfort or annoyance, Callus didn't seem to find his contact discomforting "getting used to this place?"

Just 4 months ago, Callus was a wild animal. Now, he was one of the best horses in Jackson. Danny was extremely proud of himself for achieving this transformation in such a short time.

"You turned out to be a good guy in spite of everything" he said "you found yourself in a new world you didn't know existed. But you adapted, and turned into the most badass horse in the land" he moved his hand to his neck, scratching it gently. Callus's ears poited toward the sides "you like that?" He remembered the first time he tried to pet him. Danny had one of his rare outbursts 'No! don't slap him, no one likes to be slaped on the neck! Scratch him, dammit!' Fortunately for everyone's mood, Danny's bad temper only showed on rare occasions.

The door behind them slowly opened, Callus raised his head, got away from Jack and released a loud snort, staring at the entrance of the stall. Jack rushed towards him "Don't worry, Callus. It's Ellie. Ellie's a friend. Please calm down" Danny told him horses have a particularly sensitive spot on the back of their ears, so he scratched that spot. It worked, Callus calmed down.

Jack turned his head and looked back at Ellie "you could've knocked, you know"

"Sorry" she said, slowly walking towards the horse with her hands in the air. When she placed her left hand on the horse, Callus accepted it without resistance. "Still getting nervous around people, I see"

"Maybe he just doesn't like you"

"That's ridiculous. See? He loves me" she scratched the back of his ear as well. Callus seemed to like it. "By the way, what you just said to him, that was cute"

"What?"

"People can still perfectly hear you on the other side of that door, you know"

"Oh... yeah, sure" Jack didn't know. He felt his blood rushing upwards to his face. With his pale skin, he was probably looking like a tomato.

He heard Ellie's chuckles coming from the other side of the horse. "C'mon, we should leave this big guy alone"

The boy started following her to the door. "Take care" he said when passing in front of Callus. The animal snorted, he seemed to dislike the fact he was leaving. "Sorry" Jack said before closing the door behind him.

Danny was still next to the wounded Ray, checking on the hole on his head.

"He'll make it?" Jack asked.

"I'm positive" Seeing one of his beloved horses in the conditions he was in was very upsetting for him. Ray had been presenting some worrying symptoms, Danny seemed to think he may be suffering brain damage, but it was impossible to know if it was permanent. "Let's not draw any..."

Someone knocked the front door, interrupting him mid-sentence "Danny, it's Tommy" Joel's younger brother voice reached them from the other side.

"Oh, god" Danny murmured, his face adopting a fearful expression. He gave one look at the horse, Ray was laying on his side, no sign of movement other than his breathing. "Come in" he said .

Tommy opened the door and got into the stable, Jack deduced almost immediately he didn't get any sleep last night, he was clearly exhausted, grey circles were showing under his red eyes. He was also dragging his feet a little bit.

He walked towards Danny, but focused his attention on the two teenegers behind him. He didn't wish them a good morning as Jack expected "When I finish my business here, I'll need to talk with you two".

"Your business?" Danny seemed increasingly nervous.

"Don't pretend to not know why I'm here, we already discussed this"

"B-b-but it's too soon, Ray will get better any day now, I promise"

Jack suddently understood where was the conversation going. He felt the urge to intervene, but he knew Tommy's mind was already made. He looked at the horse on the floor, the way he was aimlessly staring at the ceiling sent a wave of impotence through his body. He could see Ellie was having the same struggle, the only difference being that she would most likely act upon her instinct to protect the animal.

"The thing is" Tommy seemed troubled as well, this was clearly no easy decision "supply runs are on hiatus, hunting trips are also on hiatus. And we can't afford to waste anything on a useless animal, doesn't matter how small the cost may seem"

"Just give him a week, that's all I'm asking for" Danny was almost begging him.

Tommy stared at him with the most piercing look his tired eyes could achieve. "I'll give you a choice, then" he crossed his arms "Either we put him down today or we don't put him down at all"

It seemed like an easy choice at first, but the more Jack thought about it, the more he understood Tommy's position. What if Ray never gets better? What if he was never coming back to be the horse he was before? What if they waste precious resources and time taking care of him for nothing? Was it worth the risk? The only thing they knew for sure was that the horse was useless now, and there was no reason to believe things were going to change.

Danny seemed to understand this as well.

"So?" Tommy urged him to answer. "We don't have all day to..."

"Okay..." Danny looked back towards the horse one last time "You... you're right, it's the reasonable thing to do" he sounded a little bit more confident than before.

"Danny, what the fuck..." Ellie tried to approach the big guy on the other side of the horse, but Jack grabbed the back of her shirt with his unharmed hand and pulled her back to where she was standing a moment ago, taking her by surprise.

"Be reasonable" he whispered in her ear, hoping that would be enough to calm her down. He let go of her.

"This is bullshit" she angrily muttered, crossing her arms and looking down at the disabled animal.

"Okay, then" Tommy continued a moment later, relieved he didn't have to take care of an angry and stubborn girl. "Come in" he said to the door. The front door opened and 4 people Jack didn't know came in.

"So... it's settled?" The guy leading that small group asked Tommy.

"Settled" Tommy pointed towards the horse "he's unpredictable, so be careful"

The stranger nodded and the four men approached the horse. "Sorry for this, Danny" one of them said to him.

They bound Ray's front legs together with a rope and tied a second rope around his chest, paying attention to any movement coming from the animal. "Okay, let's take him outside" Tommy ordered. Using the ropes, the four men managed to move the horse, dragging him across the floor. Ray didn't seemed scared or angry, instead he raised his head to take a better look of the people pulling him to the entrance, apparently confused.

"I'll make it as quickly as possible" Tommy told Danny once the group of men dissapeared behind the door with the horse. He promptly followed them.

"Please, wait here" Danny said without trying to hide his distress. He followed Tommy outside, leaving Jack and Ellie alone.

The girl walked towards the nearest stalls and rested her back on a wooden beam between two doors. She sat down on that spot, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them.

"You're okay?" Jack asked. He didn't sat down like Ellie, instead he walked around the place, anxiously waiting for the imminent gunshot.

"Sure" the tone of her voice did not express anything positive. Jack felt like an idiot for asking, of course she wasn't okay.

"I'm... I'm sorry. You know, before..."

"Don't worry about that... stopping me was probably the right thing to do" she raised her head and looked at him "it was a lost cause" her head fell again on her knees. She was focusing her attention on the floor, keeping a blank expression on her face.

A moment later, the sound of a gunshot reached them. It wasn't as loud as Jack expected it to be, but it still made him jump. Ellie didn't react at all, but she took a big breath once it was over. Ray was dead.

None of them broke the silence as they waited for Danny's return. It took almost a minute for him to come back. He got inside without closing the door behind him. "Tommy's waiting for you two outside" he said, on the verge of tears.

Leaving him alone was probably the best thing they could do. He needed privacy.

"Ellie" Jack called for her, already standing in front of the open door, facing outside. From there he could distinguish Tommy's figure, seated at a nearby porch, waiting for them.

There was no response from the girl. He turned around to face the interior once again. Danny was already gone, apparently he was now in what used to be Ray's stall, but Ellie was seated on the same spot than before. Apparently she didn't hear him. "Ellie!"

"Mm?" She responded, absentminded. "What?" This time paying more attention to him.

"Tommy... Outside"

"Oh, yeah. Sure" She stood up and made her way towards him.

"You sure you're okay?" Jack asked, a little bit concerned for her.

"Why I wouldn't be?" Stupid answer to a stupid question. 'Of course she is not okay' he reminded himself once again.

The boy decided it was better to stop questioning her mood. It wouldn't be productive for anyone. "C'mon, Tommy's waiting".

Both of them came out of the building and walked towards the porch of the nearby house where Tommy was waiting. Ray's body and the group of strangers were nowhere to be seen. Joel's brother raised his head as they aproached him. Jack had never seem him so tired before.

"Where's he?" Ellie asked before Tommy could speak.

Jack knew that was a question she didn't want answered. Knowing how Tommy worked, Ray was probably in his way to a Freezer.

"Where the corpse is isn't important. The horse is dead, Ellie" Tommy said with a raspy voice.

To avoid any sort of escalation, Jack spoke up before Ellie could reply "So why you wanted to see us?" This has been a sucky morning, and the only thing he wanted to do now was to go back to the house, lie on the couch, and remain like that for the rest of his life. A thought he found very attractive.

"I'll be direct. I want you two on watchtower number 2. First shift tonight"

"But Joel said..." Ellie said before being interrupted by Tommy.

"I don't care about what Joel says, he doesn't call the shots here. I'm in a tough position, and I can't afford to waste a helpful hand. You help or not?" Tommy knew she wanted to help as much as possible, she have been wanting a shift on the watchtower for a long time. But Joel's position on the subject troubled her.

"So?" Tommy urged her.

"Okay..." she doubted for a second "okay, I'll be there"

"Good" he seemed satisfied by her answer "Jack, instead of having the morning shift tomorrow, you'll have the first afternoon shift, okay?" The boy nodded "Ellie, you go with Jack, his schedule is your schedule, understood?" The girl nodded.

Tommy stood up "okay then, if you excuse me, I have a lot to do" he walked down the stairs of the porch.

"You should rest" Jack said when Tommy started walking through the street.

"No time" Tommy answered as he walked away from them towards his next assignment.

Jack and Ellie watched him dissapear behind a corner "let's go back to the house" Ellie said with the same sad tone she've been using lately.

"Sucky morning" Jack stated once they where on their way.

"Sucky morning" Ellie agreed.


	30. Fireflies (Part 2): Help

A/N: I feel I took too much time to upload this chapter, but here it is. Sorry for any grammatical mistake, I'm trying to improve (I'm open to criticism). Thanks to every one who reviewed :) It really helps.

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Chapter 30: Fireflies (Part 2): Help

12-year-old Jack woke up. He was resting his left cheek on a patch of grass he found growing under a rusty blue dumpster. The smell was nice and the soft surface was a welcome change.

But as soon as he opened his eyes he noticed something was off; it wasn't something he saw, but something he felt. A familiar tingling, itching sensation crawling up his neck. But it was different this time; it wasn't just an ant or a small spider, he could feel the weight of the thing on his neck, and the contact with it's twitchy limbs made every hair of his body stand on end.

He raised his hand trying to move as little as possible, ready to ambush the intruder. But; maybe feeling his intentions, or just by mere coincidence; the insect flew away, landing on the cracked pavement just a few feet away from him.

Jack observed the giant, reddish, cockroach. It was probably as long as his index finger. He couldn't let something that big escape.

He sat down, trying not to alert the unsuspecting incect. The roach remained still, the antennas being the only thing moving.

Without taking his eyes out of the incect, Jack reached an old newspaper laying on the floor. If he was able to catch rats with that, why not this? It would definitely be trickier, the cockroach was smaller and, unlike a rat, it could fly away at any moment. But it was worth the shot.

He unfolded the paper and, without hesitating, he threw himself foward. The bug tried to fly away, but it was too late. Jack fell on the cockroach , squashing it under his own weight. When it was all over, he sat down and looked under the newspaper. The crushed incect's legs were still twitching and it's white intestines were spread all over the floor, around it's body; if it wasn't dead already, it would be soon.

He carefully grabbed the bug by one of it's legs and inspected it. It was big and disgusting but, although he was not thrilled by the idea, it could still be called breakfast.

This time, he hesitated. But, without much of a choice, he ended up taking a bite out of the incect. The first thing he felt was an explosion of juices in his mouth, accompanied by one last twitch from it's legs (something that almost made him spit it out). When the bug was no more than a white-ish paste in his mouth, he swallowed it. 'It wasn't that bad' he thought to himself. Surprisingly, a cockroach wasn't the worst thing he ever tasted.

He ate the second half of the bug and then went back to the spot with the grass patch and sat down. He was alone in the alleyway; Jane was probably nearby, looking for food. Jack always wanted to get more involved with that aspect of their lives; after all, food was probably their number one priority. But his sister always found a way to convince him that this was something she wanted (and needed) to do by herself.

'Don't put yourself at risk for this', 'let this pretty face solve all your problems', 'you'd just slow me down', 'dammit Jack, just shut up and eat the thing!'. All excuses.

She just wanted the best for him, but they both knew he would eventually grow up. It wouldn't take long for him to start disobeying her, he already thought about doing so several times. But in the end, he always realized that he wouldn't survive 5 minutes by himself without the relative safety provided by the alleyway.

Right now there was nothing he could do, so he tried to get any thought about his future away of his mind. Focussing instead on the murmur of a crowd coming from what was probably a market, just a few blocks away.

He'd seen several of them around; some were visited by relatively normal people trying to get a cheap meal, but the majority were just a bunch of nasty people involved in nasty businesses. Jane warned him about how dangerous these places could be; but with 'official' food sources failing to meet people expectations, it was getting more and more difficult to avoid them as their number increased.

Just a few moments passed before he heard the voice of two men nearby.

"C'mon, you said you were interested" it sounded like they were getting closer, Jack could perfectly distinguish their voice from the gibberish coming from the market.

"For the right prize. I could get better than this for much less"

"I doubt it. Believe me, you can't get any better"

"You're a businessman. If 'trust' is your best argument, I'm surprised you didn't starve to death a long time ago"

Jack could hear their footsteps now, they were not alone. Something else was with them.

The two men finally appeared at the end of the alley. Jack was right, they weren't alone. A big, scary looking black dog was walking besides one of them, probably his owner. The four-legged black mass of muscle demanded respect, Jack had never seen something like it.

The little boy tried to ignore the strangers, he was sure he'd never see them again. But to his surprise, the man who apparently was the dog's owner turned his head towards Jack. He knew the man saw him; or at least he saw his head, popping out of the back of a rusty dumpster. The stranger stopped, the dog besides him looked up, probably wondering what cought his master's attention.

The second man also stopped, looking back at the dog's owner. "You saw something?" He asked out of plain curiosity.

"An opportunity. As the good businessman I am, I shouldn't let it pass by. You'd like a little demostration?" He said with a smirk on his face. He crouched without waiting for an answer and whispered something into the dog's ear.

The dog's deep growl was enough for Jack to realize he should leave the place immediately. He grabbed his backpack, which was laying right next to him and, without wasting any time, he started crawling away, procuring to remain out of sight. He tried to keep calm, knowing that if the stories he heard about some popular 'business practices' were true, he was fucked.

"Pay attention, this bad boy will always go for the throat first. It's gonna be over in just a second"

'Fuck'. After hearing that, Jack left aside all precautions. He quickly stood up and, now on plain sight, ran away from the two men. Deep down he knew that even if he tried, it'd be useless; the dog would pursue him, catch up to him, and kill him.

"Run, little beggar!" The man's words were immediately followed by his dog's barks. The animal was on pursuit, and he was getting closer to his soon to be victim. It was too late to do something.

"Help!" Jack's helpless cry for help was the last thing he said before feeling the weight of the enormous (and heavy) dog on his back. His malnourished body couldn't support the extra weight, making Jack fall face down on the pavement. The boy remained still, with his eyes shut, waiting for the animal to sink his teeth in his neck and end his life.

But death never came. Instead of sharp teeth, his neck came into contact with a few drops of warm blood. He opened his eyes a moment before the dog's corpse fell right next to him, a small pool of blood quickly forming around the animal's head. Jack took a second to notice the obvious cause of the dog's demise, the handle of a long hunting knife was coming out from the space between the dog's eyes.

A hand reached down to the handle. It took a couple of tries, but the knife finally came out of the animal's skull.

"What the fuck?!" The owner of the dog said, sounding dangerously angry. Jack turned around so he could see what was happening.

He saw the dog's owner taking out a gun from the holster on his waist and pointing it in his direction. He was aiming at the young man holding the knife.

"Do you have any idea of how much you cost me? Do you have any idea of how long it took to...?" The man didn't notice the flying knife until it was too late. In an instant, the man's right eye was replaced by the knife's handle.

Jack found odd that the man didn't immediately fall to the ground. Instead he just dropped the gun and, with a look of shock in the eye he had left, slowly lost balance, falling on his back, dead.

His saviour walked towards the corpse and crouched beside it "what a fitting end for a piece of shit like you" he said while pulling the knife off of his head. From this angle, it was impossible to see his face, but Jack thought the guy couldn't be very old based on his voice.

The stranger looked up and stared at the second man, who remained static, visibly shocked and scared. "Once again you showcase your ability to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, Finn"

"P-please Ryan, I had nothing to do with this"

"Of course you didn't" Ryan stood up and walked towards Finn, holding the bloody knife in his right hand. "May I ask you a question?"

"Eh... of course" He calmed down a little bit, but he still seemed nervous.

"Why do you think I just killed this random guy I'd never seen before?"

"I...I..." Finn's murmurs were almost unhearable

"You don't know?" Ryan seemed upset by the situation.

"Please... this is stupid..."

Ryan raised a hand, urging him to stop talking. "I killed this guy here because he gave me an excuse to do so. Look, I can get behind an extremely poor excuse to kill someone, but I can't tolerate bullshit like..."

"J-just put the knife down..." Finn was paying more attention to the sharp tip of the knife's blade, just a few inches away of his neck, than to Ryan's words.

"You interrupted me. Don't interrupt a costumer; it's not polite" Although he was clearly annoyed and angry, Ryan put the knife down, prompting a sigh of relief from Finn. "you get the point, don't you?"

"Yes... I'll not give you any excuse"

"Good" Ryan extracted an envelope from his pocket "Our agreement still stands?"

Finn took a second to realize what he was talking about "Oh! Sure. Don't worry about that"

"Tomorrow morning?"

"I'll be there"

"This is yours, then" Ryan handed the envelope to him. Finn looked inside.

"Wow. I never expected an advance from the fireflies"

"Just get your part done... and forget what you saw here"

"What thing?"

"Good"

Finn took that as a signal to leave. With some effort he placed the envelope in his pocket. He nooded at Ryan and walked away, dissapearing in the distance.

Ryan turned around and gave a long sigh, looking at the scene. For one second his eyes lay on Jack before focussing on the dead body just a few feet away from him.

"You help?" The grown-up asked him as he tiredly walked towards the corpse.

"Eh... how?" The little kid was not sure what Ryan wanted with him. Why did he save him?

"I'd like the dumpster open" Ryan grabbed the body by the arms and dragged it towards the big rusty container. Jack stood up with a low grunt, walked towards the dumpster and, with some effort, lifted one of its lids. There was nothing aside from dirt inside.

Ryan lifted the corpse and dropped it inside. He paused "do you have any problem with this?" he said with a strange soft tone while pointing at the body.

At first, Jack didn't know what he meant; but soon, after taking a look at the dead body, he realized what Ryan's concern was. "I'm fine, I've seen dead people before".

"Okay then" he placed both his hands on the open lid. "Watch your fingers" he said before closing it.

Ryan didn't look dangerous, and his back still hurt after the dog's assault, so Jack decided to sit down on his usual spot against the wall "T-thank you, sir"

"Sir?" He produced a curious sound, half laugh, half sigh "... you welcome" he walked towards the dog's body "I'll trust you this, alright?" He grabbed the dog's collar and lifted it for a second before dropping it next to the small kid "after all, it's technically your mess"

Jack's confusion outweighed his gratitude. He finally asked the question "Why... Why did you help me?"

"Look, kid" Ryan crossed his arms and looked down at him "sometimes weird stuff happens for no particular reason, trying to find a meaning behind it will just hurt your brain. So accept the favour and move on, okay?" He turned around, prepared to leave the place before Jack could add anything else. But suddently his expression changed, he looked back at Jack "actually, I think you can help me after all".

Jack owed him his life, so he was prepared to accept anything Ryan could ask him to do.

"You know where's the old bookstore?"

"Just a few blocks from here" he pointed to his right. He and Jane walked past by it on several occasions.

A small smirk appeared on Ryan's face. "I need you there, tomorrow morning. Wait for me. You think you can do that?"

Jack nodded.

"See you tomorrow then". In the blink of an eye, he was gone.


	31. Afraid of Nothing

Chapter 31: Afraid of Nothing

Jack thought something was off. He took almost a whole minute to realize what was missing; and once he did, he couln't believe he didn't notice it before. "Where's everybody?" He was used to hear a constant chatter in the background, always following him everywhere, but now the street was silent. There was not a soul, excluding Ellie and himself, on the street.

The girl looked around, apparently she hadn't notice the empty streets until now, just like him. "I guess people prefer to stay safe at home in times like these"

"I've never seen this place like this. Empty"

"It happens some times"

By now the majority of people would be aware of Derek's death and Ryan's visit. News like that were capable of spreading at an incredible speed. Suddently going out of your house, even while staying within the walls, was no longer safe.

Every now and then a solitary figure would appear in the distance, only to dissapear a moment later. People were avoiding the streets as much as possible.

At first Jack thought of this as a curiosity, something he never saw before. But the calm and empty streets slowly made him feel uneasy. Noise and chaos around him always made him feel safe; knowing he was surrounded by people who wished him no harm was one of the best feelings Jackson could offer. But now, the oppressive silence had triggered something in his head, something that wouldn't let him calm down.

What was different from this morning? He was able to enjoy a walk through the empty streets, by himself, perfectly fine. But he knew what was different, empty streets in the morning were common; but now, with the sun almost in its highest point, it was just unnatural, a testimony that something was wrong.

Sweaty palms, shudders, trouble to think straight, unable to focuss on anything else other than the feeling someone was following them. Ellie's presence was not helping. 'What's going on?' He thought to himself, unable to express with words what was happening.

"You're okay?" Ellie asked.

"Y-yes" He was just been paranoid. He knew he would feel better once they get to the house."I guess I'm tired"

He tried to remember how he used to feel in the woods, all those months ago, walking alone without a particular destination. Not even then he felt as defenceless as now. Would he be able to defend himself from an attack? His time in Jackson made him weak? Or slower? Was he ready to deal with a real threat?

"You're safe here, you know" Ellie said with a smirk on her face, distracting him from his thoughts.

"What?"

"You need to calm down"

"Why? I'm not even..."

"Okay..." She stopped, but Jack wanted to keep going. The sooner they get out of the street, the better. "Hey!... C'mon, Jack" she reached out to him and grabbed his shirt before he could get far enough. "Yeah, my turn to stop you now"

"Ellie... you have no idea how annoying you're being right now" he said with honesty, looking back at her.

"You are nervous. Just take a deep breath and give yourself a second" He slapped her hand away as hard as he could, producing a loud noise that echoed along the empty street.

The violent action was enough for him to realize he should calm down a little bit. "Sorry" he said, ashamed of losing control so easily.

"No, no, no" she said, ignoring the pain on the back of her hand "Don't worry, I understand what you're going through"

She was been honest.

Jack closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. Once he felt good enough, he opened his eyes. Ellie was still on the same spot; arms crossed, head tilted to the left, patiently waiting him in order to continue their way to the house.

"Good?" She asked him.

"Better" He just wanted to leave the street "Let's keep going"

She nodded, causing an involuntary sigh of relief from him, and they continued their walk down the street. He felt a little bit more relaxed, but the oppressive sensation on his chest wasn't going anywhere.

The house appeared in the distance shortly after. Jack pick up his pace. They finally got to the door, which was unlocked. Ellie turned around, his face reflecting some annoyance "Unlocked?"

"My bad" They were strict about the door, 'always locked', a simple enough rule. "Last time, I swear"

"Strike one" Ellie opened the door. Jack rushed in behind her, closing the door and this time locking it with the key he always carried in his right pocket.

Once he was done, he immediately felt the sense of safety coming back. "That was weird"

"You never know what can trigger you" Ellie said while letting herself fall on the couch and placing one hand behind her head, she was occupying the entire length of the furniture.

"I guess you're right" He said. Ellie seemed comfortable on the couch, and after this sucky morning, he wanted to rest. So without saying anything else he left the living room, walking towards his room. A nap would be great now, he needed energy for tonight's shift.


	32. Fireflies (Part 3): First Step

Chapter 32: Fireflies (Part 3): First Step

Jack was disobeying his sister for the first time, leaving the narrow alley where she told him to wait. He had a reason to do this, he owed Ryan his life and a favor was all what he was asking for.

But this reasons were not enough to make him feel good about this; what if Jane comes back and finds nothing? Would she forgive him?

He was carrying their backpack (which contained absolutely everything they had). He could manage the extra weight for now; but soon, his body would fail him. 'I hope he doesn't want me to do anything difficult' he thought.

The bookstore was just a few block away. He got there in a couple of minutes and, eager to leave the streets, got inside. Everything in the place had a grey layer of dust and debris on it. Abandoned buildings were not uncommon; but they were still scary looking and menacing, all made worse by the huge hole on the roof, which made it look like the old building was about to collapse.

There were still some dusty books on the shelves, but they were probably unreadable after over a decade of been exposed to harsh conditions.

Jack was extremely nervous about what would happen once Ryan get there, but right now he left the backpack next to the nearest wall and sat down besides it. He waited there, remaining still, not moving a single muscle in anticipation of Ryan's arrival.

Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Half an hour. Ryan told him to be there in the morning; but soon, the sun would be in its highest point, and no sign of him. Jack rested his chin on his knees, hugging his legs, thinking about what Jane's reaction would be if she finds an empty space where her brother should be almost made him go back, running as fast as he could through the street, back into the alley where he should be. 'I should've left something to let her know I'm okay' he regreted.

But he didn't move, Ryan deserved more time.

He could hear voices nearby, mostly people passing by; but one of them came from a desk on the other side of the building. Ryan was seated on the decaying furniture, brushing its surface with the palm of his hand "You're coming?"

Jack didn't lose any time; he stood up, grabbed his backpack, and moved across the ruble and dirt to reach Ryan.

The firefly looke up at him "Nice to see someone who sticks to his word"

"I owe you" Jack said timidly.

"I know... but still" he said while opening his own backpack and looking for something inside.

"Now what?"

Ryan took out a can simply labelled 'Ryan. 2/3. Thursday'

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"My lunch" he shook the can "peaches, probably" without warning, he handed a knife to Jack, who hesitated "open it" he also handed the can to the kid.

If he said so. Jack took some time to figure out the best way to open the can; but when he finally did, he was greeted by an orange glow coming fron the inside, which made his stomach growl. His mouth felt like it was melting, Jack couldn't believe how much hungry he actually was. But taking advantage of Ryan could only bring problems, so he raised his hand with the can towards Ryan.

"Three minutes. All you can eat"

Jack lowered the can with his eyes wide open.

"I started counting 10 seconds ago"

Jack wasn't sure if the feeling of having all that delicious food available to him at once was the best thing that have ever happened to him. All he could focus on was the constant stream of bright orange fruit dissapearing inside his mouth. Everything about this was it was too good. He wasn't sure if once he started he would be able to stop, not until the can is empty.

"Time's up. Give it to me"

For a split second Jack considered eating a last piece; but he decided it didn't worth it, so he handed the can back to the grown-up and proceeded to enjoy the sweet juices left on his fingers.

Ryan looked inside of the can, there was only two or three pieces of fruit left. "I can't believe I just saw a kid as small as you finish up this so fast" he said, more amused than anything else.

"I was really hungry... sir" Jack just left him without lunch. Although he couldn't say he regreted it, he knew Ryan would be angry.

"Don't worry" The firefly raised the can as if it was a glass of water and finished the job Jack started, leaving the can completely empty. "You needed a good lunch" he threw the empty can against the wall, producing a loud 'bang' followed by the sound of the metal rolling through the floor.

Ryan got off the desk and walked towards one of the few bookshelfs still standing. It was as tall as him, almost three times wider and was resting against the wall. Ryan went to a side of the wooden structure and pushed a little bit "some help".

Jack wasn't sure how much of use he could be, strenght was something he lacked. But he still went next to Ryan and, using his whole body, moved the shelf to a side with his help. A hole on the wall slowly revealed itself. Ryan stopped applying force to the wood, bringing the thing to a stop.

"What's this?" Jack asked, surprised.

"A tunnel. Smugglers sometimes use these as a way to move across the city"

"You're a smuggler?" Jack wasn't sure what Ryan's job within the fireflies was.

"Sometimes" he looked into the hole, it seemed like a small fall "Taking a job once in a while can open many doors and connect you with many people, helpful people"

"So why you need me?"

Ryan looked back at him with the hint of a smile "these tunnels can be tricky, I need some help if I want to ever come out, help from someone that can keep a low profile"

Jack nodded.

Ryan positioned himself at the entrance of the tunnel "once you jump, there's no other choice other than going all the way. You understand this?"

Jack nodded once again.

A second later, Ryan dissapeared into the hole "Don't worry, it's not a long fall" he heard him say from the buttom.

Jack looked into the darkness. This wasn't the time to doubt. He jumped in, desperately hoping to not hurt himself with the fall as the darkness engulfed him.


	33. Fireflies (Part 4): Underground

Chapter 33: Fireflies (Part 4): Underground

The fall was longer than expected, but Jack still managed to land without many complications.

The darkness was absolute. He could see a white light above him, coming from the bookstore, but this light was not enough to make anything visible down there. He knew Ryan was a few feet in front of him, but he couldn't see him.

The darkness was broken by the light of a flashlight, which blinded him for a good minute. When he was able to see again, he saw Ryan's back and the beam of light from the flashlight pointing towards a door in front of them.

"Stick to me" Ryan said without looking at him "if you get lost, just look for the light" he walked towards the door, Jack followed him.

"Where are we going?" Ryan said he was there to help him cross that tunnel, but Jack still had no idea why they were crossing the tunnel on the first place.

"Remember Finn from yesterday?"

"Yes"

"He's a dealer; we have an agreement. I'm here to make sure he's legit" They were making their way through the place, dark room after dark room. With the flashlight being the only source of light, Jack was starting to feel uncomfortable and claustrophobic.

"Dealer of what?"

Apparently Ryan thought that question was a stupid one "Teddy bears and rainbows, of course" he continued in a more serious tone "What do you think? Guns"

"Fireflies have a shortage of guns?"

Ryan seemed to find that question even more dumb "You are not a smart kid, don't you?" He said while passing across another door "Let's start from the beggining. When a shot is fired, a bullet is used. You cannot re-use bullets... you're following, or is it too much?"

"So you just want ammo from this guy"

"For now" He turned right and passed through a hole on the wall. Jack didn't question him before following "It's our first time making business with him, we want to see if he's reliable"

They kept moving through the tunnel, which was getting narrower, almost to the point of moving sideways. It seemed like they were moving through a colapsed section of the tunnel, Jack's breathing was getting faster as the space got smaller.

"Don't worry, we're almost there" Ryan said.

"Where?"

"Where you can start being useful... no offense" with a grunt, Ryan squeezed through a small crack and finally reached the end of that narrow section.

Jack released a sigh of relief as the oppressive feeling on his chest dissapeared. The next room of the tunnel was empty (or at least it seemed empty in the darkness), a door was located in front of them.

Jack expected Ryan to open the door so they could continue, but he didn't.

"Look up" Ryan ordered while pointing his flashlight towards a vent. "Okay, listen to me very carefully. I'll boost you up so you can reach that vent over there, you'll go through it to the next room and move to a side whatever is blocking this door, okay?" He grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but the door wasn't opening.

Jack was undeniably scared of being alone in the dark. Ryan had the only flashlight and the idea of squeezing through the vent in complete darkness wasn't appealing at all. His expression was surely showing this fear, he felt ashamed of not being able to give a clear answer.

"Hey" Ryan handed him the flashlight "just remember. You lose it, and we're fucked" Ryan placed himself directly under the vent "so?"

"Okay" this wasn't the time to chicken out, he had to do this if they wanted to make it out on the other side.

Ryan helped him reach the vent, Jack was able to slide in without many complications. He fitt perfectly. Once inside the tiny metal corridor, he started crawling, every single noise was amplified to an almost ridiculous degree.

"To your left, it should be right there" Ryan voice came from behind him. Jack looked to his left; he saw a grill that would surely lead him to the room with the locked door, hopefully he would be able to do something about that.

"What do you see?"

"An entrance" Jack pointed the flashlight towards the grill, he couldn't see the room on the other side due to a piece of cloth covering the opening "I can't be sure if it's the right room, there's something in the way"

"Be specific"

"There's a piece of clothing covering this thing, maybe someone didn't want to be observed" he guessed. The old screws would fail quickly with a push, he placed his hands on the rusty metal and begun pushing, the thing would fall in any second.

"Wait! Don't do anything!" Ryan's words had a sence or urgency this time.

But it was done, the piece of metal that separated him from the room fell to the floor.

Jack asked himself why he didn't listen to Ryan's warning, because whatever was this thing it couldn't be good. A yellow mist, full of little white dots rushed into the vent and covered his surroundings almost immediately.

Jack held his breath before inhaling any of it.

"Hey! You're okay?"

Jack couldn't answer, so he just started moving towards the hole, he had to do this quickly.

Going legs first, he prepared to jump into the new room, he was already felling the need to breathe growing.

He finally was able to cone out the vent, but the fall was longer than expected. When he made contact with the ground, he fell to his knees .

In that instant of surprise, he unconsiously gasped for air. Whatever was in it, it rushed into his lungs. It felt just like common air (at least he couldn't tell a difference), but he knew he shouldn't breathe more of it.

So ignoring that little incident he looked for the blocked door, he found it almost immediately.

He've heard about some weird shit during his life, but this made him shook his head in disbelief. A giant, ugly and weird thing was coming out of the door and the surrounding wall. It looked like a plant with bright orange appendages growing all over it.

This was not the time to be afraid of inanimate objects, it didn't matter how ugly they were. Jack slowly walked towards the thing, still holding his breath. He grabbed the doorknob (luckily exposed and not hidden behind the strange growth) and tried to force the door open.

It didn't work, he decided to remove at least a little bit of the growth. When he looked down towards it to decide where to begin, he saw something that made him gasp in terror, causing a little more of the yellow stuff surrounding him to enter his lungs. A set of sharp teeth was popping out of the giant thing, Jack took a second to calm down and figure out what he was seeing.

There was a corpse blocking the door, an infected corpse; shoulders, legs, arms and a head, all covered by the fungus.

Ryan trusted him, and he wasn't going to dissapoint. Jack grabbed the corpse by the shoulders and pulled (easily the most disgusting thing he have ever done). With a 'snap', the body detatched the door and fell to a side.

Ryan must've heard it, because almost instantly, the door opened and he rushed into the yellow mist. Grabbing Jack by his arm, he almost ran to the other side of the room, where a new door Jack didn't notice before was located.

In just a matter of seconds the firefly was closing that door behind them. Now, in a more clean room, they both took a deep breath.

"I guess that's why nobody uses this tunnel anymore. Please... tell me you didn't breath any of that shit"

Jack didn't want him to see him as a liability. On top of that, he breathed so little of that stuff it couldn't possibly be enough to harm him (or at least he hoped that was true). "Don't worry, I didn't" he lied.

Ryan didn't look convinced, but he shrugged "well, it's not me the one that should be worried... Stick to me, we're almost there"

This is when Jack noticed a light that didn't come from the flashlight.

A stairway next to them led to the outside, it took them a minute to reach the fresh air, they were finally out again. Jack was truly exhausted and worried.

"Just a little further" Ryan said with a big smile on his face.

Jack followed him thinking about what just happened. 'No, you are not turning into that thing' he conforted himself as they walked through the street. He couldn't do anything about that now, just hoping he was right.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter will also be a flashback, then I'll be going back to present time.


	34. Fireflies (Part 5): The Dealer

Chapter 34: Fireflies (Part 5): The dealer

"Hey" Ryan said to him after what seemed like an eternity "I'm sorry for what happened back there... I wasn't expecting that"

"Don't worry" he was trying to forget about the infected's room. It was affecting him too much, mainly because he did in fact breath the spores. '_That was not enough to hurt you_ ' he kept telling himself.

His efforts to think in something else made him realize how different this place was in compared with what he was used to. This place didn't look like the usual inhabited area. Empty, quiet, far away from any disturbance caused by crowds. "Where are we?"

"Getting closer to the water" Ryan was visibly excited about getting this job done "Now listen... your job here is basicaly done. So stay behind me, stick to my back. Try to keep a low profile, please"

"Sure" it wouldn't be difficult for him.

They walked for a long time, exhaustion was becoming a problem. Jack could collapse under his own weight at any moment. But Ryan was not paying attention to him, he was focused on reaching their destination.

"So, how far is this place?" Jack said, unsuccessfully trying to hide his exhaustion, he was panting.

"Right..." he raised an arm a stopped, Jack did the same. Ryan looked around; this place looked like an abandoned industrial area, the rusty carcass of a sizeable structure (probably a warehouse) stood tall in front of them. "...here... Yeah, definitely here"

"A meeting point?"

"Yep... catch your breath"

Jack sat down next to one of the numerous rusty colums that somehow still managed to keep that particular building standing. It felt good to finally have time to rest and think more calmy about the events of the day.

He did it. Thanks to him, Ryan was able to reach this place avoiding the military. This was something he never felt before, a sence of achievement you just don't get from solving a rubik's cube. Being helpful for once, at least a little bit, made him feel he mattered, that his existance would leave a mark, no matter how small, on the world.

"You're happy about something?" Ryan was staring down at him, with a mix of confusion and amusement on his face.

"I didn't know I was capable of doing something like this"

Ryan chuckled "the more you know..." his smile banished when a new figure emerged from one of the numerous buildings surrounding them. "Remember... behind me"

Jack did as he wanted while looking at the man aproaching them, he was the same he saw yesterday, Finn, the businessman. He wasn't carrying anything with him.

"He's not..."

"I'm not blind"

"Just as I promised... I'm here" Finn said once he reached them, he crossed his arms, his gaze focusing on Jack.

"I'm up here" Ryan was annoyed (or at least pretending). Finn's eyes looked up once again "So... I was under the impression you'd have something for me"

"And I do, but first..." he gave a nervous look towards the abandoned warehouse "The rest of my payment"

Jack could only see Ryan's back, but based on the way he turned his head, the kid could tell he was looking at the decaying structure, his gaze remained on the building for a long time, it looked like he was analyzing every single rusty screw from the place. It took him so long to say anything that Jack almost asked if he was fine. But then something changed on his posture, he seemed more relaxed now. Chuckling, he looked back at Finn.

"I'll show you my stuff if you show yours" he sounded almost happy, as if he was about to burst into giggles.

"That's not how I do things" Finn said, ignoring Ryan's almost childish demeanor "I'll like to see the payment first"

"You'd love that, don't you?" Finn backed off, apparently Ryan's expression was upseting him "What is it? You scared or something?"

"N-no, just... look, you want your ammo or not. Just show me the payment"

"You sound worried, not a professional way of closing a deal... but of course, killing your costumers is also a shitty to handle something like this"

"What?"

"I guess you decided you really don't want to have a relationship with us, but you're too fucking greedy to just end the deal after an advance"

"What are you talking about?" He sounded a little bit more worried this time.

"You really thought this was a good way to end it? . I mean, I can see at least a dozen problems with this master plan" he made a movement with his hand only Jack could see. It could only mean one thing, 'stay away'

"Ryan... what the fuck are you talking about?" now he definitely sounded scared.

"You know what I'm talking about. You also heard what I said yesterday" Ryan moved his right hand towards his gun. "Yeah... you're fucked"

With his left hand he grabbed the same knife he used the day before to kill the dog's dealer and, in a flash, stabbed Finn in the neck. From Jack's angle, it seemed like a friendly hug. But in reality, Ryan was pushing the knife deeper and deeper into his throat.

Finn was desperately trying to breathe as Ryan twisted the knife inside him. The dealer gasped for air, only for a torrent of blood to be ejected out of his mouth. That made Jack to turn away, but the sound of blood splashing against the ground was still disgusting.

"This is your fault and you know it" Ryan said before pulling the knife out and letting Finn's corpse fall to a side. Blood now coming out of both his mouth and his wound, forming a sizeable red pool under his body.

Without losing any time, Ryan dropped the knife to the floor and raised his hands (like someone who's surrendering) "_whatever he paid , I'll double it_" He yelled to the air.

At first they both stood still, silent. But then the distinct sound of foosteps reached them from the depths of the abandoned werehouse. A woman; short black hair, tall and young; was aiming a hunting rifle directly at Ryan, who kept his arms in the air.

"I listen" she said, stopping at a considerable distance from them.

"What if we make this a tad more friendly"

It took a few moments for her to put the rifle down and take a few steps towards them. Ryan lowered his arms.

"So...?" The woman was impatient, she just wanted to leave.

"You heard me, let's make a deal so we can forget what happened here"

"It's 30 then"

"What?"

"You said double"

Ryan was astonished, but at the same time he seemed flattered "so I'm worth 15, that's amazing" keeping a smile on his face, he extracted from his backpack a considerable number of notes. Ration cards. "Count them yourself" he threw the bunch of papers towards the woman, who counted every single one of them.

"Excuse me for any inconvenience" she turned around with the intention to leave.

"Wait"

She turned her head and looked at Ryan once again.

"Just out of morbid curiosity. What was your job exactly?"

"Confirm you had the payment. Kill you"

Ryan slowly nodded, giving her permission to leave. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the corpse on the floor and kicked it. "You fucking weasel"

"Now what?" Jack should be shocked or negatively impressed by Ryan's display of violence, but for some reason it made him respect the firefly even more.

"I need to find a replacement" He didn't sound angry nor annoyed, just disappointed "but that's not your problem" he sighed "well, let's go back".

It took them a little while to reach a, this time, not so hidden entrance to a new tunnel on an apparently random wall at the side of an apparently random building.

"This should take us back to your district. Don't worry, this one is still in usage, so is safer"

"Why didn't we use this on the first place?"

"This is one way only, notice the fall on the entrance. I don't have the tools to climb this"

They jumped in, eager to emerge on the other side, they were both tired of this day, the sooner it ended, the better.

"Eh... Ryan?" Jack asked him, there was something he had been wanting to talk about for a while.

"Mmm?"

Jack doubted, if he said outloud what he was thinking, then it could be something that ultimately change his life forever "I want to help... I mean... become a..." he was trying not to be to direct "Regular?" Hopefully Ryan would understand what he meant.

"Help me regularly?"

"The fireflies... I mean, from what I know about you guys, you seem to be the only ones that try to... improve this" he could not believe he was actually saying this to an actual firefly, but he felt this was more than just his way to repay Ryan for saving him. He wanted this.

"You want to be a firefly?"

"No... no, I can't" that was the truth.

"Why...?"

"I mean... I can't even walk for too long" he was thinking in helping by doing small things like today.

"Your body shouldn't matter as long as your mind is in the right place"

"I... I don't..."

"You know, I think I'm paying you a visit tomorrow. Then we can talk seriously. Right now, let's go back to the surface" the sunlight was already visible at the end of the tunnel.

After reaching the surface, they discretely split paths trying not to attract any unwanted attention. Jack begun making his way back to the alleyway, where he would probably find Jane. She would definitely want explanations, and he would tell her everything.

'_Almost everything_' . He was going to keep the spores-filled room a secret. _'Hopefully that little bit was not enough_' once again he had to do an effort to keep those thoughts out of his mind 'you're going to be fine' he repeated that to himself until he believed it.

He was going to be fine.


	35. Bad Terms

Chapter 35: Bad terms

Jack woke up in his room, he wondered how many hours he slept, it couldn't be too much, bright sunlight was still pouring into the room.

After standing up, he stretched at the side of the bed and looked down towards the floor, pieces of the broken recorder were lying there. He crouched next to the remains and tried to determine what was salvageable. A big chunk of glass from the screen was intact, he took it (you never know when you'll need it). He also took the batteries 'they may be usefull sometime' he thought.

There wasn't much else he could do about the rest, so he just threw it all under the bed and put the glass and the batteries into one of the smaller pockets of his backpack.

The young boy opened the door expecting to hear either Joel or Ellie's voices coming from the living room or the kitchen, but the house was still silent.

Trying not to make too much noise, he walked towards the door at the end of the hallway (which was connected to the living room) and opened it. The room was extremely silent. Ellie was still lying on the couch, her face facing the cushioned wall where you'd normally rest your back. Jack aproached her with extreme care and lowered his head next to her's, only then he was able to hear her inhaling and exhaling at a rhythmic pace, definitely asleep. Better not to bother her.

Slowly, he approached the door that connected the living room with the kitchen and got into the next room. The note for Joel and the little green soldier were still on the counter (Joel was still outside somewhere, then).

Jack sat down at the counter and grabbed the little plastic figure, dedicating the next few moments to figuring out what it meant. Of course, he would not know for sure until Joel get there.

He wasn't hungry yet, so he didn't bother having lunch. Instead he just rested his head on the closed fist of his healthy hand, thinking about nothing in particular, killing time.

An almost inaudible grunt coming from the living room reached him, hopefully Ellie was waking up.

He peeked into the living room, still procuring to be as silent as possible. Ellie was rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Joel?"

"No" Jack walked into the living room "Just me... Joel's not back yet"

She grunted once again "He said anything before leaving this morning? It's getting late"

"No" Joel seemed angry that morning, or at least annoyed. The recorder really upset him. "Hey. Want something to eat?"

"Not now" at least she didn't seem worried "I rather wait until he comes back"

Joel would be nothing more than problems once he come back, specially after telling him what Tommy said.

Joel told Ellie to stay away from the watchtower. But now she decided to listen to Tommy and help. Knowing Joel, he would use that as an excuse to get angry at him. It happened before, somehow all the blame for any problem belongs to him. From 'who forgot to close the fridge? (Ellie)' to 'who broke the light bulb? (Ellie did)'. Somehow he always concluded the same: Jack's to blame. But this was a much serious matter, who knows how he'd react?

"Move" he said, Ellie gave him some space so he could sit down on the couch.

"I know why you're worried" Ellie said next to him "you know Joel's gonna blame you for this" Jack's silence confirmed it "He turned into a little bit of a control freak when we first arrived this place last year. He gets seriously upset when things don't go his way. Just know it's not personal, he just directs his anger towards the 'new guy' "

"How are you planning to break the news of tonight's shift?"

"We'll see about that later"

"There's no later..."

"Jack, please... you're too neurotic lately"

That made him loose his grip a little bit "why you think it is?"

"I know... we're all stressed, but this place has seen situations like these before"

"People are dead, Ellie"

"And you can't do anything about it, so try to calm down"

"It must be so easy for you..."

"Yeah, you're right" she said with an obvious sarcastic tone "so fucking easy"

Jack was angry now, she seemed to just ignore the problem. Maybe it was just her way of dealing with it. Either way, it was annoying "how can you stay calm in a moment like this. A fucking stranger broke into this very house last night! I mean... aren't you just a little bit afraid?"

"I am... some people are not as vocal as you"

He tried to see this from her perspective, she wasn't involved with Ryan in any way and she was never open about her feelings. She was reserved, not only with him, but also with Joel. She was not the kind of people that lose their shit on the first sight of trouble... not like him. The thought made him feel worse. "Sorry"

"Don't worry. Know that I wouldn't like to be in your place"

"Still"

"Let's just leave it there... please" she sounded somewhat tired of the conversation.

They fell into a tense silence. None of them even tried to start a new conversation. But suddently a low deep growling sound echoed across the room.

"Hungry?" He was amused by what he just heard.

"That was actually a little bit embarrassing" she said trying (and failing) to keep a serious tone.

"You'll still wait for him?"

"I've endured worse things than a noisy stomach"

"Willingly?"

She took a few moments to figure out what to do "You're right, I'm starving"

"Wait a sec, then" he stood up, but before he could make another move, a 'click' coming from the front door called for their attention.

When the two teenegers turned their heads, Joel was already closing the door behind him. Fortunately, he seemed calm.

"What took you so long?" Ellie was relieved.

"Don't worry about that, I'm here now. And I'm hungry" he sat down next to her, staring at the boy, both silently agreeing not to mention any of what happened that morning.

"I'll look for something" Jack said trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Fine"

The three of them finished up what was left of a can of beans and the 'leftovers plate'. For some reason, the atmosphere was tense, the only noise being the constant chewing. No one was breaking the silence. And the worst thing was that Joel kept acting calm, apparently oblivious to their struggle.

"Any of you is hiding something?" Joel finally asked once they were done with the food.

'Dammit' was Jack's first thought. He opened his mouth to talk, but Ellie beat him to it.

"Actually, it's about something Tommy said this morning" she started, being careful with her words.

"Yes..."

"He asked me once again to be Ron's replacement at the watchtower... I said yes"

Now Joel's calmness was slowly starting to fade away "We discussed this yesterday, he'll look for someone else for now"

"There's no one else..." Jack said before Joel hit the arm of the couch, standing up.

"Shut up!" Joel turned from calm to angry in just two words.

"Joel..." Ellie was trying to calm him down "C'mon, you're not like this"

"We discussed this yesterday... what did he tell you to make you forget it?"

"Blaming me again!"

"I swear, Jack... shut up!"

"No, no, no... she can choose for herself, you know"

"I'm not letting her do something stupid just because"

"It's not just because, Joel" Ellie was getting upset at how everything turned out "you know Tommy need all the help he can get right now"

"I said no" Joel's stubborness was what angered Jack the most.

"You really think your saying matters, don't you?" The volume of the conversation was raising with every sentence. Soon they'd be yelling at each other.

"Yes!"

"Jack, please leave me..." Ellie also stood up was the only one at this point not showing clear signs of anger.

"Well, it doesn't!" Even Jack was starting to realize things were escalating too quickly.

"Why!?"

"Jack, that's enough" Ellie raise her voice, but her efforts were useless.

"Because she's not your fucking daughter, you asshole!" Just a second of silence was enough for him to realize he may have crossed some sort of line.

"Leave..."

"You think you can just end this by..."

"I don't think you understood what I meant; I want you to go to your room, grab your stuff, and leave this house, right now"

Jack didn't believe he really mean it "you can't just..."

"I just did"

Jack could only respond with a nervous laugh "no no no no... you brought me here, I'm your responsibility"

"I don't care"

"Ellie?"

She was as shocked as him, her face express ed what she was feeling 'I can't do anything for you now'.

"Leave..." Joel got closer, effectively intimidating him.

There was nothing else he could do, just going back to his room and coming back a few seconds later holding his backpack. Joel opened the door for him. Slowly he walked past him, ending up on the porch "Joel, just think about..." The old man slammed the door shut. The loud 'bang' was soon followed by the sound of the locks.

He was outside now, there was nowhere to go. The only sound he could hear in the desertic street was his own heavy breathing.

What now?


	36. Night Shift

A/N: Flashback chapters will become much more frequent from now on, there's a lot to cover. Also, big thanks to every reader who reaches this point, I appreciate every single view :)

* * *

Chapter 36: Night Shift

The stables appeared in the distance after some time walking, hopefully Danny would be there, and hopefully he would let him spend the night. The empty streets were as menacing to him as before, so as soon as he reached the wooden door, he opened it and rushed inside.

As soon as he closed the door, Danny's familiar, friendly voice reached him from a stall, Ray's stall. "Who's there?"

"It's me"

Danny's head popped-out of Ray's former stall, he immediately noticed that Jack was carrying his backpack "What happened?"

"I need a place to stay for tonight" he approached Danny "I don't want to be rude or anything... but this was the only place I could think of"

"Don't worry... what happened with Joel and Ellie?"

"It's something between Joel and me, no offence, but I don't feel like talking about it wet"

"Ok... well, come in"

Jack got into the stall, the smell of horse shit was still strong (but bearable), there weren't any trace of hay and everything he was used to see in a stall was gone "cleaning?"

"Yes, I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with this place, so feel free to stay here for as long as you need"

"It wont be long, I promise" Joel couldn't be mad at him forever, he would be back at the house in a couple of days for sure.

Danny nodded and left him alone in the stall "I'm leaving, I need some rest. Take care of the guys for me"

"Thank you" Danny left the stable, leaving him alone with the horses. He left his backpack on the floor and left the stall.

Although he might take a coulpe of hours, he decided he would check on each individual horse. He didn't had much left to do until his shift that night.

* * *

Ellie spent the next hour wondering how to approach this situation. Joel was now at the kitchen, she had to say something. She was not going to dissapoint this time, she was determined to be at the watchtower that night. Either she remains silent and sneaks out without telling him or she convinces him to let her do it.

Jack's words kept creeping into her thoughts 'You really think your saying matters, don't you?' He was somewhat right, Joel wasn't her father, she was not bound by blood to him. But after everything they been through (Jack was unaware of most of it), she couldn't just dismiss him. There was a relationship binding them together and she couldn't ignore it. No, if she wanted to do this, she needed his permission.

"Joel..." she walked into the kitchen, Joel was holding a little object, a little green man holding a gun "what's that?"

"We used to call them 'army men'...a toy, kids used a bunch of these to fight imaginary battles" at least he saunded relaxed now, a good thing.

"Sounds fun... from where did it come from?" Joel extended his arm towards her, he was holding a napkin with a message written on it, apparently from Jack. 'From Esther'

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with her" she slightly raised her voice. The mere mention of that woman annoyed her.

"I don't" Joel carefully placed the little guy on the counter "but we share a couple of words with each other from time to time. I told you, remember?"

"Yeah, months ago... and you followed that by saying you wanted nothing to do with her"

"You think this will culminate with me having to choose between you and someone I barely know?" The ghost of a smile appeared on his face as the little girl took a seat next to him.

"Of course not"

"Listen, kiddo... quoting someone very important to me: 'we are in this together, everything else is secondary'. You still remember how we felt our first week here?"

"It sucked"

"But we pulled through" he was right, it was really dumb to feel like someone could ever replace her. He proved time and time again that was impossible "let's move on, okay?"

She nodded "so why did she give you that?"

"It's for you, she thought you would find it interesting" he handed the little dude to her.

She examined it more in detail, but something was off about him "you said 'army men'... so this is supposed to be a soldier, right?"

"Yes"

"But it looks nothing like a soldier, I've seen photos of how soldiers looked like" they were hulking beasts carrying a lot of equipment, this little green guy was only using a shirt and was carrying a normal pistol.

"This is based on how soldiers looked like a long time ago, long before the outbreak. From the Second World War , probably"

She heard a couple of mentions to wars and conflicts from before the outbreak, but no one ever gave any details. So hearing that shocked her a little bit.

"World!? And the second? So... for a period of time everyone everywhere just agreed on killing each other... twice"

"It was not like that. And I really don't want to go over the details now. But yes, a lot of nations were involved, but it happened even before I was born"

"Still... wow"

This time a real smile appeared on his face "yeah" his face turned serious "but you don't really want to talk about that now"

She was struggling to figure out a way to approach this. Being direct already failed before, but maybe now it would be more effective.

"I have a shift tonight, Joel. Like it or not, no one else can fill the vacant"

"I can" he didn't hesitate.

"You already have your own schedule"

"I can fill both"

"No, you can't"

"You clearly forgot who you're dealing with here" her biggest desire right now was to contribute, at least a little bit. She was not going to lose against Joel's stubborness. She never did before, after all.

"Joel, I want to do this myself"

"I can't let you"

"What can I do to convince you?"

"Nothing" this back and forth was not leading anywhere.

She couldn't deny she was getting a little bit irritated. "I can do this"

"I know... my answer is still the same, though"

"Joel!" That came off like a whine, she hated herself for that.

He stood up "I'm tired, I think I'll..."

"No! Joel,no... sit down...please"

"This conversation is over, Ellie"

He just left, not looking back at her. What now? She could just leave without telling him, but they both knew she wouldn't. This made her go back in time, the first time they had a real disagreement, at the dam; back when Joel wanted to get rid of her, now it was the other way around.

She went upstairs, this was not over. Joel's door was closed, Ellie didn't know if he was just avoiding her or if he really was tired, and she didn't care.

"Joel! C'mon, I'm not going anywhere" she said, mercilessly banging his door.

Joel voice came from the other side "stop" he didn't open the door.

"Not until you agree that it's a good idea for me to take some responsibilities"

He opened the door, ending the constant banging, "not like this"

"How many people have died during a shift?"

"Too many"

"One guy"

"One too many" although he said it with authority, something appeared in his eyes that gave her hope, a glimpse of doubt. His position was not as strong as he thought.

"I'd be with Jack, remember? Probably the only guy in this town they would not kill. I'll be safe as long I'm with him"

"Or endangered"

"This is just the paranoia speaking"

"No... no" now she definitely saw some doubt on him, questioning his own reasoning in a way that would be impossible a year ago.

"Two letters, Joel. An 'O' followed by a 'K' ; say them and you can forget about this, leave this little debate behind" Joel was considering it, what she said about Jack really got to it was just 'defend my unsustainable position for as long as I can' with him.

"I just want to protect you."

"And that's why you're great" this was it, his brain was working at full speed, coming up with the best possible course of action. Whatever he decide now, it's going to be his definitive position "So?"

"Ellie..."

"I know it's difficult for you, but life isn't easy"

Joel seemed angry, he couldn't escape this.

"I'm...I..."

"What?"

"Ellie... just..." he was tired and there were no more excuses.

"Joel" this was it, he was going to break "what's gonna be?"

* * *

The darkness of the night was coming, he could see it from up there, an orange bright light at his right, a deep blue sky at his left.

Jack looked at his backpack, already hungry. He had a can of something (Danny didn't tell him what it was) in there, but no, he couldn't waste it so soon.

He had replaced the two guards at the watchtower only a couple of minutes ago. They didn't seem happy when he told the it was only him; fortunately they were tired, so they didn't ask too many questions.

Hopefully Joel would reconsider his position. Ellie was not a defenseless little kid, she was perfect for this Joel was comfortable enough knowing she would spend her days there running errands and taking care of horses. He couldn't just accept a change or a risk.

Some time passed, everything seemed normal. The walkie-talkie on his waist remained silent, meaning there was nothing out of the order in Jackson. Everything was fine.

He checked the bandages on his hand once again, they were fine. He was worried they would make shooting difficult. But fortunately he could hold a rifle just fine.

"Hey" a voice coming from behind made him jump.

Ellie's head was popping out from the edge. Just like him, she was carrying her own rifle and backpack.

"No way Joel let you come here"

"Why not?"

"He knows, right?" The last this he needed was even more problems with him.

"Yes, he knows I'm here"

How was that possible? He didn't know. But it was irrelevant, the important thing was that she was there.

"Okay... let's focus now, alright? We'll discuss your miracle powers of persuasion later"

Ellie nodded, she seemed happy to be there. "Let's see what all the fuss is about"

"Believe me, by the end, you'll be shocked you ever wanted to do this voluntarily"

"Nice encouraging words" She left her backpack next to his on the floor and loaded her rifle. Getting prepared for the long night ahead of her.


	37. First Night at the Watchtower

Chapter 37: First Night at the Watchtower

The hours passed by; one, two, three... nothing of interest ever happened outside the watchtower. Ellie and Jack were seated on a pair of wooden chairs, side by side, staring into the illuminated patch of land between the walls of jackson and the treeline.

"So...? Having fun?" Jack asked after almost falling asleep for a second time, Ellie was awfully quiet as well. "Ellie?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm awake"

"C'mon, just a little longer"

For the third time that night, Ellie rubbed her eyes "sorry"

"It's okay, we didn't sleep very well last night" He looked down at his bandages, his hand was itching, hopefully a good sign.

"Holy shit, why this is so boring? "

"You can walk around if want"

She remained seated on the chair, no signs of wanting to move "okay, I didn't want to mention this, but we really need to wake ourselves up a little bit" she took out the Rubik's cube from her backpack "can you help me with this?"

"If you don't do that yourself, you'll lose the bet"

"Just a clue?"

"No" the truth was he didn't know if he could still solve it, he probably forgot how to a long time ago.

"Okay..." she threw the cube into the backpack and retrieved one of the multiple books she stored in there "the old-fashioned way then"

It was the second volume of 'no pun intended'. He used to have a copy of that book, he still remembered some of the jokes. "Can I see it?"

"You don't have this one? I swear I heard you telling some of this jokes"

"I lost it a couple of years ago"

She handed the book to him "be careful with it, okay?"

"No need to worry" he opened it on a random page. There were three jokes on it; one about a teacher, one about a duck and one about baseball. He remembered all the time he spent reading this jokes over and over again. That book made him remember his room at the fireflies headquarters, basically a bunk bed in a space half the size of his room in the house, he always managed to make some time so he could lie down and read there. One of the few good memories he had of his childhood. He was thirteen when he found it.

It felt good to hold it again.

"How can you lose a book?" Ellie asked a few moments later.

"I don't know, I had it in my backpack and then, suddently one morning, I realized it was gone. I looked for it everywhere, but never saw it again. I carried the backpack with me all the time, so the book may have fell somewhere and I didn't notice"

"That's a real shame..." She said as Jack gave her the book back. "Where was that?" Jack knew she wanted to know a little bit more about him and the fireflies, but he didn't want to mention them nor discuss anything in relation to the topic with anyone. Ryan showing up was enough for him, at least for now.

"Where what?" He faked confusion, hopefully she'd understand he didn't want to talk about that.

"The fireflies, you joined them. In which city?" She either didn't get it or didn't care "I know you want to avoid this..." didn't care "...but c'mon, two months and you're still a mystery. I'm not asking for much"

"Can we just focus on what we are doing right now?" but something she said was nagging him "and don't pretend I know much about you or Joel, because I don't"

"Fair enough, you say something and I say something"

"No"

"Two months, Jack..."

"No, let's just agree that our stories don't matter. The past is the past"

"Just the city?"

Just the city. Just a name. No big deal.

He sighed before giving into her demands "I lived in Boston" he said, annoyed. Ellie seemed shocked at that. She started mumbling a little bit, trying to say something.

"Like... Boston Boston? The 'one that's a fuck-ton of miles away' Boston?"

"You've seen it on a map?"

"No..." she was smiling in disbelief "I kinda lived there" he wasn't as surprised as her at that piece of information, but a slowly frown appeared on his face. Why would them make the trip from there?. But he remembered that morning, how Joel seemed mad at the recorder.

"Okay..." he connected the dots; what the recorder said, Joel's reaction, them moving west from Boston almost at the same time as the fireflies. Joel didn't want him to know something about him and the fireflies. Now he understood it was about them and the fireflies. "You..." there was no way he was mistaken, her city of origin was the final piece of the puzzle "you're immune to the infection" he didn't even ask.

He was expecting her to deny it, but intead her smile slowly turned into a look of complete confusion. Breathing heavily, she opening and closing her mouth trying to say something. "Why you say that?" Was all she managed to say.

Jack made a promise that morning, 'don't say anything about the recorder'. "When I was with the fireflies, I heard something about someone being immune; I can't tell you now, but I have reasons to believe it's you"

Ellie didn't say anything, avoiding his eyes, she rolled up her sleeve, exposing her right arm to the air. A yellow, bubbly scar occupied a fairly big area, almost immediately he realized it was a bite.

"Believe me, I have no intention of telling anyone about this"

She covered her arm once again "thank you" she said with a noticeably sad tone "this... changes anything?"

He understood her concerns "yeah, you're a little bit more awesome now" she smiled and chuckled "so who knows?"

"Joel and Tommy"

He nodded "Don't tell Joel about this, okay?"

"Why?"

"Believe me, he can't know nothing about me knowing"

She took some time, but finally she agreed. They fell into a somewhat awkward silence, they spent a sizeable portion of the next hour lost in their own thoughts.

The absolute silence was only broken by the sound of someone going up the ladder. It was midnight, their first shift toghether was complete.

Ellie stood up as soon as two new figures appeared on the watchtower.

"Shift's over, you're good to go" one of the guys said. Jack didn't know him, but he was too tired for introductions right now.

They both wished them a good night and left the watchtower.

Once on the ground, Ellie and Jack walked towards the entrance of the house, luckily it was close. "Sorry I didn't talk to Joel about you" she said while unlocking the door "first thing tomorrow, I convince him to let you come back"

"It's okay, don't worry about that" he left the porch "remember, tomorrow, right after lunch we have our next shift. There's still a lot to discuss"

"We'll see..." she opened the door "thank you, Jack. For not losing your shit over this"

Actually he was surprised with how calmly he took it "Let's not make this a big deal, okay?"

She gave a nod before disappearing into the house.

He started making his way back to the stables, with only the sound of the doors locking behind him interrupting the silence of the night.


	38. Fireflies (Part 6): Accepted Offer

Chapter 38: Fireflies (Part 6): Accepting the offer

Peace. No worries, at least for the next couple of hours. All he had to do was to relax and rest for what was left of the night. It was probably around 4 or 5 in the morning.

John was lying on his bed, he has been trying to sleep since he woke up half an hour ago. But there was no rush, he was enjoying the silence, it was one of those rare moments in which he had no obligations, assignments, or responsabilities to worry about.

He kept his eyes closed as he calmly analysed everything he had to prepare today. Tomorrow was the big day, after almost a decade, he was leaving Boston. He patiently waited for this moment to come for years, maybe this was the only way he could find some happiness, leaving everything behind and starting over, restart his life.

There was only one thing he would miss, though. His thoughts were taking him back to the lifelong friendship that was coming to an end. Losing a friend was not easy, he struggled with the idea since the very second he received the news of his departure.

But he couldn't torture himself with that, not now. He focused on the warm, comfortable bed and he couldn't avoid a smile appearing on his face as he remembered once again he still had the rest of the night ahead of him, time he would spend sleeping and relaxing.

Slowly, his mind started dreafting away as he fell back into the realm of dreams...

But suddently, he felt something similar to a wall of ice smashing against his face, followed by the sound of water splashing and the felling of wet sheets against the skin of his neck.

Gasping, he opened his eyes. Ryan was standing up right in front of him, holding a now partially empty glass of water.

"Ryan... what the fuck?"

"I saw this on the nightstand. Couldn't resist" Ryan drank the rest of the water.

"What do you want?" He rubbed his face against the sheets to dry it up. "It's early morning"

"I'm just coming back from Marlene's office"

"Something to do with me? If not, sorry, but not interested"

"I need a favor"

Of course he did, he always needed help to pull something off. "I'm leaving tomorrow, Ryan. Wathever it is, do it yourself"

"I can't, and I thought this would be a really good way to say goodbye. One last little adventure"

John sighed, not having Ryan around was probably going to be the biggest change in his life. Better to enjoy it as it last "what do you want?"

"I'll tell you on the way, get prepared. I'll be waiting outside"

* * *

Jane didn't go anywhere that morning. She already knew about Ryan and the fireflies, the past couple of hours taught Jack she was really good at squeezing out information from him; every single bit of information.

"Which were his exact words?"

"Something about coming back today... I don't remember the exact words" Jack was nervous, mainly because Jane was nervous. He'd never seen her like this, with a mix of anger and anxiousness.

"Why did you do that?" She asked for the third time that morning "you can't be a fucking firefly. I mean, how stupid are you?"

"I just want to help, it doesn't necessarily means becoming a firefly"

"Once you're in, you're in, you stupid dimwit" She was walking back and forth across the alleyway. Looking down at Jack, who was seated at his usual spot.

"He's coming either way, no number of insults will change that"

"Shut up" she then asked the same question she's been asking all morning "lets just move somewhere else, okay?"

"No, I'll wait for him here"

"C'mon" she was getting desperate "I understand, you're bored, you want something to do. I promise you can help me out looking for food"

"It's not about that, I want to help them, be useful for once"

"You're twelve, you fucktard. Twelve-year-olds aren't supposed to do this kind of things. The Fireflies are serious business, they're not playing"

"I know"

"No you don't. You're lying to yourself, little shit"

"Could you stop it with the insults" he was not used to her talking like that.

"No, I can't. I'm angry, frustrated and afraid; I insult people when I'm angry, frustrated or afraid"

"Get a hold on yourself, then"

That comment triggered her, she grabbed him by his arm and started pulling, apparently trying to drag him out of the alleyway. But Jack was not the only one weakened by the lack of food, just a little bit of resistance on his part was enough to convince he she would not be able to force him to do anything "please..." she fell on her knees in front of him, begging "I'm begging you, don't do something stupid"

"Sorry" was his only answer. He himself didn't know how to explain his feelings with was something he wanted, period.

"You're going to regret..."

"Sorry if I interrupt" Ryan's voice conveyed a certain degree of amusement. The two brothers turned their heads in surprise as the firefly approached them. "You didn't tell me you had company"

Once out of his surprise Jack responded "my sister, Jane" he introduced her.

"Well, this is unexpected, but I'm sure she'll not be a problem" Jane was staring at him defiantly, apparently not afraid of him. "Good to see you're alive, by the way"

"What does that means?" Jane's focus shifted from Ryan to Jack.

"It's nothing... really, it doesn't matter now" the spores-filled room and the infected corpse were irrelevant now "so why are you here?"

Ryan didn't answer right away, he was focused on the little girl standing between them both. After several seconds of tense silence, he spoke "you offered your help; I'm here to accept it. Now, if you follow me..."

"You're not taking him anywhere" Jane finally said something.

Ryan apparently expected that sort of reaction from her. "Oh, I'm not forcing him to come anywhere, if that's what you're worried about"

"I'm not letting him go with you"

"Okay, then" Ryan wasn't willing to have an argument with an stubborn girl, apparently. "sorry for this Jack, but the lady spoke" he turned around and took a few steps away from them.

"Wait!" Jack stood up, not willing to let him go.

Ryan turned his head "if you want to come with me, just do it" and he kept walking.

Jack grabbed the backpack and took a few steps foward.

"No"

"I'm doing this"

"No" Jane just watched as Jack passed in front of her following Ryan. This time she didn't try to grab him or hold him back. She understood there was no way of convincing him, at least for now; so instead she just followed him, remaining silent.

Jack looked back at her, she didn't say anything, but there was a hint of frustration in her expression. They were almost leaving the alleyway behind at that point.

Ryan made his way across the city with the two kids following him. It wasn't long until the firefly suddently stopped in front of one of the many different buildings in the area, there was nothing remarkable about the place. Ryan opened the rusty backdoor and turned his head for the first time since he started walking. "Oh good, you're still with me... okay, the stairs. Second floor, turn left and it's the fifth door to the left, wait for me there"

"Jack, last chance to think this through"

He ignored her and got into the building, she followed him.

* * *

The girl also went in, fraternal love can take you really far. This was something he knew very well.

Ryan didn't immediately follow them, instead he waited at the entrance. John didn't take long to show up.

"So, got the keys?" Ryan asked as John approached him.

As a response, his friend handed a key "he was livid when I told him we needed the apartment"

"You were polite?"

"I tried"

They both chuckled.

"So is that guy here already?" John continued.

"It's 'those guys' now"

John didn't ask any questions about that "how long are you staying here?"

"Details are important now?"

His friend nodded, leaving the topic aside. "So..." he just wanted to get this over with, patience never was one of his virtues "I don't really know how to do this..."

Ryan offered his hand and after some hesitation John decided a handshake would be enough.

"Bye, Ryan"

"Bye, John"

Without saying anything else, John left.

Better for it to end like this. After all, death was the leading cause of friendships ending nowadays.

Now he had a job to do, so he got inside "Okay, next chapter"


	39. Stranger

Chapter 39: Stranger

Jack woke up, the smell of horse shit still filled the air, the strong breathing of the horses and the sound of the floor squeaking under their weight were all reminders of what happened the last day.

Jack was seating on the floor in Ray's former stall, resting his back against a wooden column, facing the door.

Apparently Danny was not there yet, but it didn't matter, the horses wouldn't go anywhere, and his lungs were craving for fresh air.

He stood up, made sure his backpack was still were he left on a corner, and headed to the door, with the intention of leaving the stables and go for a walk.

Once outside, away from the smell and the distracting noises, he looked down at his wounded hand covered in bandages. It didn't hurt as much anymore and the bleeding must've stopped by now, so he undid the bandages to reveal the knuckles hidden beneath them. Four dark reddish wounds were placed on each one of his knuckles, there was no sign of bleeding and the wounds seemed like they healed properly. Although his hand still hurt a bit, he decided not to wrap his hand again with the gauze.

He put the bandages in one of his pockets, it barely fit inside and at least two inches of the gauze were left hanging outside, but it was good enough.

He started walking as he did several times before, without any fixed destination and just enjoying the morning, without any soul in the street (mainly because it was morning, but also because of the fear to any unexpected surprise from Ryan's group). Not like yesterday, he felt calmer today; but really, everything would be better than the piece of shit day that was yesterday.

He walked past several houses, everything seemed deserted. But then, he spotted a figure seated down at the porch of one of them. At first, he thought it was the old Jack, but as he got closer, he realized it wasn't the old man he talked with from time to time, and that this was not his house (they all looked the same to him, two-storey houses with decaying paint, so he was not surprised he confused it).

Instead of the old man, he saw a young boy. If he had to guess, he was around Ellie's age. Nothing about him was noteworthy; brown hair and a slim (almost scrawny) build were the things he noticed the most. The boy was looking down at a book, Jack couldn't read the title from where he was standing.

Usually he would avoid talking with a complete stranger, but this boy called his attention. He'd never seen him before. By now, he thought he would be able to recognize the face of almost everyone in Jackson. A new face after two months living there was interesting. And it wasn't just any stranger, it was someone more or less his age, which he found even weirder. Those were reasons enough for him to stop walking and aproach the new face, find out who he was.

"Hi" he said, making an effort to sound friendly.

The boy remained focused on his book, without answering. Not just that, he didn't even react in any way, as if he didn't hear him.

"Hello?" Jack tried again, with the same results. The boy clearly didn't want to talk, so Jack thought about leaving him alone. But no, he would at least get a response out of this boy "Hey!"

This time the boy did something in respose, he lowered the book and, avoinding to stare Jack directly in the eye, he said with a completely neutral tone "I don't like to talk with strangers"

"Sorry, the thing is I've been here for almost two months and I've never seen you before, I was curious"

When Jack finished, the misterious boy just raised his book once again and kept reading without saying anything else. Jack found this a little bit irritating.

"What are you reading that's so interesting?"

This time the stranger responded "101 Mysteries"

"Sounds interesting. It's any good?" at least there was something to talk about.

"No, it's not. I hate this book"

"Why?"

"It talks of things that don't exist as if they were real"

Jack wasn't really interested in knowing all the problems the book had, but for the sake of conversation, he asked "like what?"

The boy closed the book, but he kept looking down, avoiding eye contact "'Mystery Number 16: Location of the Soul in the Body' this is not a mystery, souls don't exist"

"How can you be sure?"

"The concept of a soul was invented by stupid people thousands of years ago. They didn't know why humans are smarter than other animals, so they invented an answer. Stupid people invents answers. Also, Mystery 67: Where do we Go After we Die?. That's not a mystery, it depends on what other people do with you, you could end up under the ground or somewhere else, then the bacterias eat your body until there are only bones left. Then, after some time, your bones turns to dust" he managed to say all that with a neutral tone.

"I thought you said you don't like to talk to strangers"

"I don't, but you asked about the book. I don't like this book, but I like to talk about why I don't like this book. It also said we use 10% of our brain, but I read in another book that we use all of our brain, so one of them is lying, I don't like books that lie"

The boy opened the book once again and kept reading. Jack didn't know whether he should keep walking or say something. He felt that ending a conversation so abruptly would be strange, but this kid was strange.

"Why I never saw you before?" He finally asked.

"I don't like stangers, so I stay inside my house to avoid them. But my father told me people are scared because of a group of people outside the walls, and the streets would be deserted. So I went outside to see if he was right. He was wrong. You came and started asking questions"

"I'm sorry"

The kid kept reading his book without saying anything.

"No answer?" Jack was annoyed at this point.

"You just said 'I'm sorry', I was supposed to say something?"

"At least acknowledge I said something when I say it"

"But you didn't ask anything, what I was supposed to answer?"

"When someone says 'I'm sorry', you can say 'it's okay' or 'don't worry' " was he really trying to teach someone his age how to have a conversation?

"Don't worry" and the stranger went back to read his book.

Now Jack seriously considered leaving him alone. But this conversation was so bizarre that ending it just like that would feel wrong.

"What's your name?" At least he wanted to get this last piece of information.

"My father told me not to say my name to strangers" the boy turned the page of his book and kept reading.

"I'm Jack. See, I told you my name, can you tell me yours?"

"You're a stranger, my father told me not to say my name to strangers. And I already knew your name is Jack"

"How? I didn't mention it"

"Every week I leave my house to ask Tommy for and updated list of Jackson's inhabitants, you mentioned you have been living here for two month, and you're a boy. The only boy that have been living in Jackson for two months is named Jack, so you must be named Jack"

He couldn't argue with that logic, but... "why do you ask Tommy for an updated list of Jackson's inhabitants?"

"Because I like to know who lives here. It makes me feel safe"

"You're one weird guy" Jack was extremely curious about this boy now, he wanted to learn as much about him as possible (or at least his name). "You know were I live?"

"No, just your name and the date of your arrival"

The boy went back to the book as Jack tried to figure out what to ask next. The stranger had a chain with a key around his neck. "That's the key to the house?"

"Yes, I always take it with me when I go out"

Jack nodded, this boy was weird, but not nearly as annoying as Noah or 'his gang', who were just dumb. This guy was probably much smarter than him. "Why you don't look at me when you talk?"

"Because I don't like talking to strangers and my father told me that not looking at people's eyes when talking to them is impolite. I want you to go away and I thought that being impolite would make you go away. But I was wrong, you are still here" after saying this he looked up at him, his expression reavealed some surprise "your eyes are different"

"Oh, yeah. People notice that from time to time"

"You're not normal. You're like me"

"Not normal?"

"Yes. That's one of the reasons I don't like strangers, when I meet a stranger they always say I'm not normal and I get angry because I know they are right, but they are not just pointing it out, they say it to insult me and they laugh at me, I don't like when people laugh at me"

"It sounds like you've been talking with the wrong type of stranger" he felt a little bit sad for him.

"Hey you!" Jack looked up at the house, the front door was open and man (who could only be the boy's dad, based on how much they looked alike) was walking towards them "Don't bother him! Leave him alone!"

"He's not bothering me or saying anything impolite" his son corrected him.

The man relaxed a little bit at this "he's not?"

"No, he's not. Look, he is also different"

The stranger's dad looked at Jack and understood almost immediately what his son meant.

"Actually, I heard something about you before. What's the name?"

"Jack"

The dad nodded and then looked down at his son "I'm going to talk with Jack for a minute in private, you can keep reading your book, ok?"

"Ok" and the boy kept reading his book.

The older man walked past by them "would you mind, Jack?"

"Not at all" and he followed him until they were far enough from the boy reading his book.

The boy's father crossed his arms and said "I want to apologize for anything he might have said, the boy tends to speak his mind without any filter"

"It's okay"

"You sure? He didn't say anything that bothered you?"

"Not particularly"

"It must be a good day, then. You don't want to see a bad one, believe me, there's screaming and groaning and everything in between... a little advice, don't touch him"

"What happens if I touch him?"

"He doesn't like being touched. We went to Tommy's office once to ask for..."

"An updated list of Jackson's inhabitants?"

The man chuckled and continued "An updated list of Jackson's inhabitants... so he read it and we were leaving, but suddently he trips and falls. Tommy wanted to help him and ended up walking around with a purple eye the next couple of days"

"You're joking"

"I'm afraid I'm not"

"Actually, that's amazing"

The man seemed pleased by his response "Okay, just that. Let's go back"

As soon as they returned to the porch the boy lowered his book, stood up and said "My name is Kyle, I'm 16 years 7 months and 5 days old"

There he had it, a name, mission accomplished. "Okay, Kyle. Gladd to meet you"

"I'm not particularly happy of meeting you, meeting new people bothers me. But it wasn't horrible either"

"Thank you, I guess"

Kyle kept reading his book as Jack said goodbye to his father.

Once Jack was walking through the street again he started thinking about how he felt about Kyle. 'He's interesting, I may visit him again after the shift' he thought. He and Ellie had another shift after lunch.

Surprisingly, he was actually looking foward to meet him again.

* * *

A/N: these were the last two OC's I'll introduce in this story (I promise)


	40. Fireflies (Part 7): The Apartment

Chapter 40: Fireflies (Part 7): The Apartment

They were standing in front of the door Ryan mentioned, waiting for him.

Jack was still amazed at the fact that Jane was up there with him. On the other hand, she was nervously tapping the wall with one of her fingers, breathing heavily.

"Thank you" he was trying to relieve the growing tension in the air.

"Let's wait and see in what kind of a mess you put us into"

They didn't have to wait much, Ryan showed up just a second later. Without saying anything, he used a pair of keys to open the door. With a hand gesture he invited them in.

Once inside, Ryan closed and locked the door "so let's be serious for a second" his voice this time was much more deeper and serious "you're here because the little guy wants to help the cause. But really, you're here because you have nothing to offer right now, we would need you to improve a little bit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jane knew what he meant, but apparently she was still angry.

"Let me illustrate" Ryan was not pleased with her attitude and didn't hide it "Jack, come closer"

"Why?"

"I want you to hit me as hard as you can" he placed his right palm on his stomach "right where it hurts"

"Why...?"

"You're going to question everything?"

Jane definitely didn't like Ryan talking like that, but she remained silent, letting Jack decide what to do.

"Okay" Jack said timidly, getting a little closer to the firefly, who left his arms on each side of his body, leaving his torso exposed. Jack knew Ryan wanted to prove his weakness, Jack was going to punch him, and then Ryan was going to laugh while telling them how weak they were. He decided it would be better to get this over with quickly.

He raised his closed fist and threw a punch, as hard as he could. It never landed; Ryan slapped his fist away with his left hand, Jack felt confused, why did he ask him to do this if he was going to stop him before he...? And then he saw his fist.

Ryan hit him so hard that his mind went blank for a second. Jack fell to the floor face-first, holding his stomach with his arms, trying not to cry from the pain. He was panting in an effort to get some air in his lungs.

In the meantime he heard Jane screaming something at Ryan. He was answering "He should've seen that coming from a mile away"

"Jack?"

"I'm... okay" he answered, breathless.

"C'mon, let me help you" holding him from an arm, she helped him stand up.

Even when standing up, Jack was leaning foward, holding his aching stomach and breathing heavily.

"You lowered your guard" Ryan said when the siblings looked at him.

"You... told me to punch you" the pain was slowly retreating.

"And you failed miserably, we are going to work on that... tomorrow. Now, let me show your room"

Ryan told them they were free to leave the apartment whenever they wanted (he would keep the door unlocked) before leaving them alone in the room, there was only one blanket in it and not much more.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes... don't worry"

Jane was livid with anger, the only thing keeping her in the apartment was Jack's stubborness.

"That guy's a dick"

"He has a point"

"How can you possibly think that?"

"I should have guessed he was going to hit back" he wondered if Ryan's punch was going to leave a mark "I tried to hit him, after all"

They both remained silent for some time as they thinked about their current situation. "You think we should stay here?"

"At least for tonight" he was already tired and in a lot of pain. Jane didn't give any objection.

* * *

The next morning Ryan woke them up early. "Follow me" he didn't say anything else and left the room.

Both Jack and Jane were tired. None of them slept well that night. Even though a room was infinitely more confortable than a dirty alley, this new situation they found themselves into was preventing them from sleeping properly.

Despite this they followed Ryan outside the room, into what once would've been called the living room, but now was nothing more than an empty room with a rotting table at the side and three wooden chairs in the centre. "Take a seat please" Ryan sounded bored and tired, the dark circles under his eyes were proof he didn't got much sleep either.

The three of them sat down, Jane and Jack side by side and Ryan in front of them both. The girl crossed her arms and adopted a defiant look, looking at Ryan intensely, as if she wanted to make him burst into flames with a stare.

"I want to clarify how things are going to be from now on in this apartment" Ryan started "First off, no. There's no middle way here. Either you commit or you leave, clear?" The kids nodded "Okay, there are two thing you're gonna do here. You'll train your bodies, because I'm felling ashamed of even looking at you right now, and you'll learn some stuff you need to know. And that's it, If you are not training or learning, you're losing my time. That lost time translates into more training or learning, It's that simple"

"How long will this 'train and learn' thing last?" Jane asked.

Ryan shrugged, leaving the question unanswered. "We'll begin immediately" he took out a pencil from his own backpack and drew a face on a pillow, also from the backpack. It was just a circle with two dots as eyes and a curved line as a smile "this is Bob" his face lighten up as he said it.

"We don't follow" Jane said with a frown on her face.

"Jack..." Ryan was once again ignoring Jane's animosity "I want you to hit Bob in the face"

"Why?"

"Because he was being a dick, c'mon"

'At least a pillow can't hit back' slowly, Jack approached the drawing. Ryan was holding the pillow in front of him now. The kid awkwardly raised his fist and threw a punch, this time it landed succesfully. With a 'puf' the pillow received the punch.

"Again. Harder"

Jack punched the pillow again.

"Do it ten times"

"What?" He knew he would get tired quickly.

"Fifteen times for doubting"

Jack didn't lose more time 'fifteen is not that much' he thought to himself. He started punching the pillow faster than before. One-two-three. One-two-three. One-two-three... when he reached fifteen, he wasn't too tired, but he was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, good. Wasn't difficult, right?"

"No"

"Let's see if your sister can do the same"

Jane looked at the pillow with despise "this is really stupid"

"Just hit him" Ryan urged her.

She looked up at the firefly, apparently she found interesting he was referring at the pillow as a 'him'. Then her eyes went down at the drawing once again. She punched it as hard as she could after a second of hesitation.

"That was supposed to be strong?"

"I'm angry, so shut up"

"Noticed that"

"C'mon, let me hit it fifteen times and lets get over with this nonsense"

"Okay" Ryan held the pillow as Jane hit it.

"Done" she said the exact moment the fifteenth punch landed on the drawn face.

"Good" threw the pillow towards the girl "hold it for your brother... Jack, ten punches, then hold Bob for your sister and then repeat"

"How many times?" Jack asked.

"Don't know, until I get bored, probably"

Jack sighed, 'okay, it's really simple, actually'. Jane was annoyed, but she held the pillow up for him nevertheless.

So they did this. First Jack, then Jane. Jack again, then Jane. At first Jack thought it was pretty easy, his arms were getting just a little bit tired, but the time holding the pillow was enough for him to rest. They both were expecting this to end at any second, but Ryan was not giving any sign of wanting to stop the exercise, worryingly, he was seated at one of the chairs, invested in a book. As Jack held the pillow for Jane he caught a glimpse of the cover of the book, it had a statue on it and was called 'The Art of War'.

"What's that about?"

"Some ancient wisdom, don't get distracted"

Jack shut his mouth and proceeded to punch the pillow again. They both kept doing what Ryan told them. After some time, Jack started having problems, his arms were tired and his muscles ached. He was noticing Jane was taking more time between punches, and a drop of sweat was rolling down her cheek.

The time in which he held the pillow was no longer enough, he was having real problems just to raise his arms. The same was happening to his sister. They were just touching the pillow with their fists at this point.

"What about lunch?" Ryan said after what felt like an eternity.

Jane dropped the pillow she holding and grabbed her knees as Jack fell to his knees, holding his arms.

"Thank you" was all he managed to say.

"You two are being over dramatic" he was taking out a pair of cans from his backpack. Like those in the bookstore, these cans didn't have anything but a label on the surface 'Ryan. 1/3. Saturday' and 'Ryan. 2/3. Saturday'. "Eat"

The two brothers grabbed a can each, just then realizing they couldn't eat the contents "we need something to open them" Jane said.

"You two seem smart, figure something out" Ryan went back to his book.

"Fuck you" Both Jane and Jack looked at the can. They were tired, in a lot of pain and hungry, really hungry.

"I have an idea" Jack carefully placed his can under the front leg of one of the unoccupied chairs. Ryan looked up for a second to see what he was doing.

"Sit on the chair, Jane"

"You think it'll work?"

"Let's try and see"

She didn't question him further. Being careful not to fall backwards, she sat down on the chair. All the weight of her body managed to bend the lid a little bit, some juices were leaking out, but it was not enough.

"Fuck..."

"Move" Ryan had left the book back on his chair, he waited until Jane decided her weight was not enough. Once the chair was unoccupied again, he sat down on it.

This time, under the weight of a much heavier guy, the can popped open almost immediately, crushed. Some orange peaches were expelled out of the can, ending up all over the floor around the chair.

Ryan stood up so they could collect all the spilled pieces of food and place it back into the crushed can. They did the same thing with the second can.

"See? you managed" Ryan observed as they ate. Demostrating how hungry they really were, the two finished up both cans in less than five minutes.

"Agh!" Jane dropped the can and rested a hand on her stomach "I think I've never ate so much so fast before"

Jack took a little bit longer, but still felt the uncomfortable feeling of having a completely full stomach once he placed his can to a side.

"You like it?"

Both of them nodded.

"Good" he sat down again on his own chair and picked up his book "I'll let you rest for what's left of the day, tomorrow we'll pick up the pace a little bit, okay?"

* * *

When the two siblins woke up next morning, Ryan was waiting for them in the livingroom.

"Morning" he greeted them.

The two kids aproached him.

"Okay, Jack" Ryan raised a pair of scissors he was holding "cut my hair, it's too long"

"What!?" Jack was not expecting to hear something like that.

Ryan handed him the scissors; Jack stared at them and then back at the firefly, thinking he might have listened wrong.

"You're taking too long, kid"

This time it was Jane the one who spoke "For real?"

"Yeah, look at this" Ryan sat down on one of the chairs while weaving his hair "it's getting annoying"

"I don't know how to..."

"Just cut it as short as you can, ruin it if you want, it'll grow back eventually" he smiled as Jack hesitantly aproached the chair. "Jane, in the meantime, take Bob out for a walk"

"The pillow?" The girl was as baffled as Jack.

"The one and only" made a gesture with his hand, urging het to hurry up "go, girl"

Jane grabbed the pillow, once again annoyed by the firefly. "This is really stupid..." she closed the door behind her, carrying the pillow.

Jack and Ryan were alone now. Without wasting any time, trying not to fuck it up, Jack raised the scissors and began cutting his hair.

"Don't worry too much, just do what you can"

"Why did you ask me to do this?"

"You two need to learn how to follow orders... this is a start"

Jack thought about that for some time as he continued his task "The more ridiculous the better?"

"Of course! Probably the most important thing anyone can do is to be prepared for anything"

"Makes sense" the floor beneath them was covered by Ryan's blonde hair at this point, Jack was managing quite well.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Yes?"

"Your sister... if you ever eventually join us... how far is she willing to go?"

How far was she willing to go for him? Probably as far as he would get for her. "She will join with me"

"You sure?"

"I'm sure"

"You're a lucky guy if that's the case" Jack didn't know how to answer, so he just kept cutting his hair "for having someone, I mean" Ryan added.

"What about you?"

"Me...? No. Few people would even care if I drop dead right now"

"It has always been like that?"

Ryan took a long time to answer. Jack wondered if he accidentally crossed the line, but when Ryan spoke again, he did so in his normal light-hearted tone. "I was a teenager when everything went to shit, older than you, but still young; a normal guy with a lot to lose..."

"Sorry, I didn't want to..."

"No, no. You asked about people that I cared about, now you get the whole package, with story included"

He didn't get to tell his story, though. Jane suddently opened the door with a 'bang', got inside, closed the door behind her and thew the pillow against the wall "fucking Bob had his walk"

"Good, nice to see you two are starting to get along with each other" Ryan was amused "getting over with it, Jack?"

"Almost... done!" One last strand of hair fell to the floor.

"Let's see..." Ryan looked for his backpack and extracted a shard of what Jack thought was glass, but turned out to be a piece of a mirror. The firefly looked at himself for a moment "Now I know how I would look like if I were bald"

"You said 'as short as you can' "

"It wasn't a complaint" he placed his palm on his now short hair, and put the mirror back into the backpack. "Okay, guys. This was all fun, but you know how it goes. It all ends someday"

The siblings stared at him, not knowing what he would say next.

"Let's stop playing and get serious, we have a long month ahead of us"

For the first time since they got into the apartment, Jack wondered if he was going to come out as someone different. How much it would take for him to become someone he'd be proud of being?


	41. The Box of the Dead

Chapter 41: The Box of the Dead

The infirmary was just as empty as the day before, after all not many people get injured when no one comes out of their homes. Steve was seated down, reading one of the hundreds of files he had around.

When Jack closed the door behind him, the doctor raised his head. "Look who it is... less than 24 hours and he's coming back... I tend to have that effect on people" he closed the file he was holding and carefully placed it on the big, unstable pile on the desk next to him. "You want me to check that?" He said, pointing at his hand.

"I was around and had nothing else to do, figured it will be for the best to get sure everything is okay"

Steve walked towards an old, rusty stretcher and moved it next to his chair. "Seat down, please"

Still not entirely confortable around the different, weird instruments lying around the room, Jack followed his instructions. "What's that?" He asked as Steve begun unwrapping his injured hand" he was looking a strange object hanging on the wall, apparently as a decoration. He had seen things like that before but he didn't know what they where or what was their function.

"A broken stethoscope, I would use it to listen to sounds inside you"

"Like what?"

Steve left the bandages at a side and glanced at the remnants of blood on Jack's hand before answering "your guts, your heart, your lungs. You'd be amazed of the amount of stuff happening in your body right now" he placed his thumb on one of his bloody knuckles and applied some pressure on it "tell me if it hurts too much"

"It's okay"

Steve moved from one knuckle to the next, Jack tolerated it well.

"You don't seem to have anything fractured, everything's in place. You'll be fine, just don't punch anything" Steve's attention shifted to his arm, Jack still had a gauze covering the gunshot from Ryan's rifle, he kinda just forgot about it. With one swift move, the doctor unwrapped his arm and took a look "seems like something big grazed you, eh?"

"It's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore"

Steve nodded "well, if that is all you wanted, then fell free to go"

Jack almost stood up and left, but he remembered something Steve told him the day before about some research he made on the infection. Immediately Ellie came to his mind, but Steve probably didn't know anything about her condition.

Nevertheless, he wanted to get some more info out of him "Can I ask you a question about Nevada?" If he remembered well, his lab was located there.

Steve stared at him, eyes wide open, surprised that he was bringing that up "what is it?"

"What was your job exactly?"

"I was a neurosurgeon"

"A 'brain doctor'?"

Steve chuckled, amused "Yes, Jack. A 'brain doctor' " he remained silent, but it seemed like he wanted to say something, so Jack didn't ask anything else "we were six people down there, each one specialized in something different. Almost 5 years we spent walking in circles, not getting anywhere"

"What happened?"

"We were cut off. We realized the world around us was falling apart and that a cure would be useless, why keep researching, then?...Some left the lab, others put a bullet in their heads. Me? I took care of Little Zach and Steve Jr for as long as I could, but it wasn't long until I ran out of food, so I got sure their cages were secured, grabbed my stuff and left the lab. Made my way north, looking for a safe place"

"How did you end up here?"

"Maria's dad found me one day, half-dead. He took care of me, brought me here, and asked if I had something to offer. I told him I was a doctor, and here I am, over a decade later" Steve sustained a little smirk while browsing through the pile of files on the table, he was looking for something specific. "Everyone has a story in this place. The majority are outsiders trying to adapt, look at your hosts, for example" he took two files out and showed the to him. They were labeled 'Animosity personified' and 'Space girl'.

"You have problems remembering names?"

"I prefer first impressions, you never forget those"

"Makes sense" he glanced at each folder, 'Ellie' was the first thing he read when he opened the first one, no mention of the infection whatsoever. "Why're you giving me this?"

"For you to have a little bit of perspective" he placed a hand on the pile of documents "237 people, represented by a pile of paper. Every single one of them has a unique story, and I'm only able to record their names and some basic stuff. Over 10 years of my life"

"What happens when someone dies?"

"Right there" he pointed towards a box Jack didn't even notice up to that point. As Jack imagined, it was filled by even more files; hundreds? a thousand? More? All he was certain of was that there was significantly more in there than on the pile on the desk.

"A decade worth of people?"

"And counting, every year I add more. I'll have to find a bigger box soon"

Jack looked at the files, thinking about the fact all this people were now dead. Although he has seen a lot of death before, and even caused some of it, this sight was still a little bit unsettling.

"I think I better get going" his mind was racing, trying to process everything Steve said.

"Sure... see you later, Jack"

"Mmm... bye" Almost awkwardly, he left the room and walked towards the exit door.

* * *

"Jack?"

There was a little mark on the rifle, right next to the trigger , probably an accident. Maybe Ellie dropped it while bringing it there and hoped he wouldn't notice, he did, of course; he rarely missed small details like that on his stuff. But callig her out on it would be useless, the damage was already done.

"Jack!"

"What?"

"You zoned out back there for a second" Ellie was looking at him from the edge of the watchtower facing south, to the outside world.

He first wondered if the little scratch was truly bothering him, but that was obviously not the case. First the weird boy, then Steve, also being forced to sleep in a stall In the middle of all the horse shit... Ryan. He found himself unable to focus on the task at hand: getting sure nothing out of the order was going on outside the walls. It was too monotonous.

"Something bothering you?"

"Something's always bothering me lately"

Ellie didn't answer immediately, she looked outside and sighed "Joel's regreting what happened"

"He told you?"

"Of course not" she looked back at him "he is, though"

"I can expect to sleep on a confy bed any time soon?"

"It's on you, really... talk with him"

Joel was intimidating, so he wouldn't want to catch him in a bad day. Better to wait until everything's sorted out.

"I don't think so" he was chuckling, but he meant it, and the girl knew it.

Jack was tired, the sun was getting lower and lower, their shift would end soon. Ellie was scanning the landscape, maybe thinking on her stuff or maybe actually doing what she was supposed to do.

Finally, the sound of their replacements coming up the stairs signalized the ending of their shift.

"You didn't talk much today" Jack said as they made their way back to the house, which was just in front of the gate.

She just shrugged "there's not much going on"

She was right, no sings of Ryan or his group, no problems with the horses, nothing noteworthy on the watchtower, no nothing today. "Let's hope it stays that way"


	42. Fireflies (Part 8): One Last Push

Days passed by, Ryan kept it relatively easy for them. Every day he would wake them up early, give them something to eat and then make them do some sort of physical labor for the rest of the day.

At first Jack wasn't able to keep up, by midday he would collapse wherever he was, unable to move any further. Ryan never lost his patience with them.

"Move" he would said to an exhausted Jack, sometimes in the middle of an alleyway, others in the apartment.

"I can't"

"Then I can't either" he would sit next to him and wait until Jack was able to keep going with whatever exercise they were doing that day.

Generally one of the siblings stayed at the apartment as the other went outside to complete some task (Ryan never ran short of things to do).

As days passed by, Jack noticed he was able to endure more physical punishment than before. He was still really scrawny, but the change was noticeable nontheless. Midday stopped being his limit. First he improved his time by an hour, then two. After a couple of weeks he was able to finish the day without complaining much. Jane was evolving just like him.

From moving some random heavy cargo from one random place to another, to punching the fucking pillow all day long. Somehow Ryan managed to turn a supposedly tiring day into a monotonous and boring day (maybe that's what he intended).

Every uneventful day felt shorter than the previous one. In just a blink of an eye, a month passed by.

One day (another uneventful, monotonous day) Jack found himself pushing a dumpster through a street, a task he would have considered impossible a month ago, under the scrutiny of Ryan and some curious bystanders.

Ryan wasn't carrying anything on him that would give any indication of his allegiance, for obvious reasons.

"What are you looking at?" The firefly would say to anyone who stared at the kid pushing a dumpster through a street. "Hey" he called for Jack after some time "smile for the guns" he discretely looked up, directing Jack's attention to the roofs above them. Military personnel was patroling as usual, one guy was staring at them from above.

"Ley's just keep moving" Jack urged him "they creep me out"

"How's that?"

"What's the need? They just want us to know they're there, waiting for us to fuck up or something"

"Let's get to the apartment, okay?" Ryan seemed to agree with him, but he was cautious enough not to say it out loud "leave that here, a mile's enough"

They began to move back to the apartment. "So what's Jane doing?"

"Bob"

"Really, when we'll be done with that?"

"Untill I get bored"

The way back should've been easy; using an alleyway as a shortcut, they would reach the apartment in just under 10 minutes. But that's not what happened.

Three guys appeared out of nowhere, blocking the way. At first, Ryan hoped they could walk past by them without trouble. One of them raised an arm, blocking the way.

"You better have a good reason to waste my time" Ryan said, trying to sound annoyed while discretely pushing Jack back, sheltering him from the strangers.

"Finn... rings a bell?" One of them said before looking down at Jack with a smirk.

"Never heard of it...or him...or her"

"Really? A pity. He died a month ago, cost us a lot, actually"

"Sorry to hear that" he tried to walk past them once again. This time the man on the left pushed him back before he could go any further. "Let me rephrase... I don't give a fuck about your problems"

The hand of the guy on the back moved down towards his gun.

"I don't know what your relationship with him was, and I don't care; but I don't have anything to offer you" Ryan continued "no rations, guns, clothes, nothing. So let's forget about this"

"We tried" he threw a punch, hitting Ryan on the stomach. The firefly was not expecting it, he ended up on his knees in the blink of an eye "but if you fucked us up we better make you know"

"Ryan!"

"Fuck off"

Jack immediately felt a punch land on his face, making him fall to the floor seeing nothing more bright lights accompanied with a ringing noise in his ears, followed by complete blackness.

He opened his eyes again after what felt like an instant; everything was out of focus, he could only feel a piercing pain under his eye and the cold muddy floor under his cheek. The distant sound of a gunshot snapped him back to reality.

Slowly, his vision became less and less blurry. Now he could clearly see what was in front of him: a broken glass bottle. Without hesitating he grabbed a long, sharp shard of glass and turned around in the direction of the gunshot, half expecting to see Ryan's corpse on the floor.

There was a guy curled up against the wall, dead, with a gunshot wound on his back. A second guy was lying dead with a knife's handle popping out of his throat on the opposite side of the alley.

Ryan was in the middle with the third stranger on top, strangling him. The firefly had a gun on his hand, but he was not doing anything with it; in fact, he was barely moving.

"No" unconsiously, Jack tightened his grip on the piece of glass. The pain made him look down, there was a liitle bit of blood on his hand.

If he didn't do something, Ryan would die, and he would follow. He ran towards the stranger, who didn't notice him until it was too late. The man raised his head and looked at him; his hands left Ryan's throat, but the sharp glass found his neck before he could do anything about it.

It felt like puncturing a balloon full of blood. As soon as it went in, a warm red torrent started flowing down Jack's arm. The stranger pushed him back and fell to a side, instinctively pulling the object out, making everything worst for him as he tried to control the bleeding with his hands.

Jack stared down at the dying man, not knowing what to do next. Something felt wrong, he'd never done something like this to anyone, it made him fell sick in a way, it made him wish the man could survive. He really didn't want to be responsible of his death.

But he did nothing; he stood in place, staring down at the man as a bigger and bigger pool of blood formed underneath him.

When the guy finally died, Jack moved towards Ryan, who was lying unconsious on the ground. He placed a hand on his shoulder, calling for him.

"Please, wake up"

* * *

She'd been doing this nonsense for hours. Ryan should really start taking them seriously, but as always the stupider the better with him, always the same.

Punching a pillow seems easy at first; but doing so for hours is not only ridiculous, but ridiculously difficult; in fact, by this point she was just grazing the fucking thing with her fist.

She could stop right now and lie once he come back, but she was a lousy liar, Ryan would see right through and 'politely' ask her to do something more difficult. He never liked it when any of them couldn't finish some task or follow an order.

It didn't matter, she wouldn't have to lie because the front door opened in that moment, Ryan and Jack came into the appartment.

"And me here thinking I would have to do this for all eterni... what happened?"

Both of them looked in bad shape, but she didn't worry about Ryan, surely he was in better condition than Jack. Her brother was abnormaly pale; he was staring down at the floor, absentminded. The gigantic blood stain covering his right side was all she cared for the moment.

"I-it's not my blood" he said as she approached him.

"What happened?" She repeated, checking him out, making sure he was not hurt. Then she looked back at Ryan waiting for an answer. "Hey!"

"What do you want me to say?" Ryan said while turning around, annoyed. Jane noticed almost immediately he had a bruised neck; someone strangled him "I fucked up, but the problem is gone now"

"I'm tired" Jack said behind her "I'll rest a bit"

"Sure"

"But the day isn't over yet" Ryan never wasted a second with them, he'd make sure they were always doing something, no matter how miniscule the task was. But this time was different, for a second the firefly stared at her with a not uncommon 'are you fucking kidding me?' face.

"Go" he urged Jack, who dissapeared behind the door of their room "You'd be tired too, girl" he collapsed on his usual spot on the chair, looking up at dirty ceiling above them "I think it's time"

"Of what?"

"I'm even with him now..." he seemed like he was trying to convince himself of something "there's nothing tying us to this place any more. You did what I told you?"

"Y-yes..." she was mildly confused, Ryan wasn't making much sense.

"Good, that's good. You're ready" a big grin appeared on his face as he stood up and moved across the room to open the front door. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Wait, where..." the door slammed shut "fuck" Ryan was gone.

Not knowing stuff frustrated the shit our of her. She liked to feel in control; but since they followed Ryan into the apartment, she lost that satisfying feeling of having all under control.

An uncomfortable feeling started building up inside her, she felt like Jack felt not too long ago: useless. Like a piece of decoration no one really cares about.

She imagined herself standing still in that empty room and felt depressed.

Seating down on Ryan's chair, she tried to calm down and relax. They both had some free time now, it wouldn't hurt anybody to rest a little bit. She desperately needed some time to herself. Questioning Jack could wait.

* * *

They expected Ryan to be gone for a day or two, but after the third night Jack was starting to get worried.

"He didn't say where he was going? Are you sure?"

"He was distracted, didn't mention anything" She knew as much as Jack did, so his constant questioning always came off as annoying.

It was the morning of the fourth day since Ryan's departure, Jack was opening one of the last cans they had left with a hunting knife they found hidden under the bed a couple of weeks ago.

"I'm sure he's coming" she said, trying to confort him "In the meantime, you could teach me how to solve the cube" bringing up the cube or his book were the best ways to cheer him up.

"I taught you already" he groaned as he struggled with the can "It's not my fault if you're fucking slow"

"No need to be angry about it"

Once the can was open he looked up at her "I'm not in the mood to waste my time with a stupid hobbie"

"You're always in the mood for..."

"Well, not now" he placed the food on the space between them "shall we?"

He'd never spoke to her like that before and it made her feel furious. At the end of the day, she was still the big sister "Fuck you" she stood up and walked towards their room before she acted upon those feelings

"Not eating?"

"Fuck you" she repeated herself, not really sure why she was so angry at this point

"Jane...?" Sounding confused by her sudden change of mood.

She had the intention to leave the room, but she didn't. Not because she realized she was being irrational, but because a door slammed shut behind her.

'Motherfucker' she forgot about Jack being an idiot as soon as she turned around to see Ryan coming into the room.

"Good, you still got some left. I was worried about that, actually" he pointed at the can Jack was holding

"Not so worried when you stormed out, eh?"

"I was in a hurry, girl"

"Oh, I'm so sorry... I don't believe you" Jack didn't say anything, he was used to them arguing from time to time, it was something he expected.

"I had to move through a checkpoint; as a firefly, I had take an alternative path and I needed daylight"

"You went back to the headquarters?" Jack asked him.

"I did"

"Why?"

"I decided you two are good enough, I had to convince some people"

"Cut to the chase, Ryan" Jane was not really liking what she was hearing 'You put us in some really deep shit, Jack' she thought.

Ryan looked for something in his pocket, and confirmed Jane's fears when he retrieved two pendants. He threw one at Jack and the other at Jane.

It read:

JANE JORDAN 000340

"Don't make me regret this" Ryan said as the two brothers stared at their names, trying to figure out how much their lives would change from now on.


	43. Fireflies (Part 9): The Shit Shoveler

16-year-old Jack was doing the dirty work... literally. All he could think of as the shovel went down into the pile of shit once again was how was he going to avoid throwing up this time. The smell hit him pretty hard, he gagged.

"Oh, god" he said too himself, grateful he managed not to waste his launch. But there was no time to waste, the day was about to end, and the kitchen was about to close.

A problem not too many people think of when they think about the fireflies is how to manage all the shit. He himself didn't know how complex the system was, but he played a mayor part (or at least he liked to tell himself he did).

It all started pretty simple, with a bucket. They were given two things the first time they got into the headquarters, a uniform and a bucket. Once the bucket is all used out, they take it to the room Jack was standing right now and throw its contents into a big container in the middle. All the shit piles up, then Jack comes into play, loading several bags and taking them to a dumpster outside. From there, he had now idea what happened with the shit, nor cared.

Thinking about that sort of stuff would make his stomach react negatively in any other context. But right now, it was the only thing he could think of.

He told himself he was going to get used to the smell eventually, which ended up being a lie, of course. You can't get used to the smell of someone else's shit.

"Fucking christ" he heard someone mutter from the door. Jack turned around to find out it was Toby, holding his own bucket.

"Make me a favour and throw that in the bag"

"Sure" Toby did what Jack asked "I've been here for years and the smells still gets to me every time" he placed a hand over his nose "all good?"

"Yeah" Jack kept working, at this pace, he would be done in just a couple of minutes "having deep, philosophical thoughts as usual"

"Still angry about doing this?"

"I just said that this was a 'new guy' kind of job; and I like to think I'm not the 'new guy' any more"

"Everyone needs to contribute in some way"

"Okay, so... why don't we let the newer people contribute with this?"

"You're the 'shit shoveler', do you have any idea how much respect that commands?" By the way people laughed every time someone mentioned his unofficial nickname, Jack guessed it had some sort of hidden meaning, he never bothered to ask about it.

Jack gagged once again "Thank you very much, but I still think this is a 'new guy' job" he said as he recovered "I mean; Liam, Riley and Jacob seem like the kind of people that would love this"

"We have to live with what we got"

"I guess..." He was finally done with the pile of shit, he had 3 full bags, which was a lot "so... you're still here, something important you want to say?"

"Let me help you with this first"

Toby was definitely not telling him something, but he didn't insist; after all, he really wanted the help. Jack carried two of the bags outside, followed by Toby with the third one. Fortunately, the room connected directly with the outside.

Though Marlene referred to this place as a camp, it heavily resembled a fortress, it was a repurposed high school fortified with scraps and whatever they could find at the moment. A rudimentary wall with barb wire on top surrounded the building, which was located south from the QZ, far enough so the military patrols wouldn't come across them, but close enough so they could reach it in just under an hour during the shift switch.

The dumpster they were looking for was right next to the wall facing south, just a minute away from the 'shit room'.

Once the dumpster was closed with the bags secured inside, Jack turned to Toby "so what's the big secret?"

"Orders" he sighed "Marlene wants to see you"

He rolled his eyes and smiled at that "What's she going to preach now? Really, if I have to hear once again how..."

"I don't think you understand" he seemed uncomfortable "she wants to see JUST you"

His smile banished immediately "l-like, only me? Just me? Just Jack? She said 'Jack'?"

"Pretty sure"

"B-but... what did I do? I fucked something up and didn't even realize? I said something she didn't like? The shit thing was just a suggestion, not a complaint"

"I just know she wants to see you as soon as possible" Toby patted him on the shoulder "I'm sure it's nothing"

"Holy shit" he turned his head at the closed dumpster "I'm done with this, so I should get going. Fuck, I'm sweating"

"Don't worry, I'm sure the shit will mask the smell"

"Fuck fuck fuck" he repeated to himself as he walked towards the building, forgetting to say goodbye, wondering what the leader of the fireflies wanted from the 'shit shoveler'.

* * *

He stood in front of the door for a couple of minutes, wondering what to say. He'd never spoke to Marlene before, at least not directly. He didn't even know if he should knock or just go in.

He realized he was standing there, sweating and staring at the doorknob. Fortunately, he was alone in the hallway (it was getting late and no one wanted to disturb Marlene) so no one saw him acting like a scared little bitch.

He hesitantly knocked the door and waited for an answer. The door opened a moment later, but it wasn't Marlene.

"Jane?" It was strange to see her there, she was as close to Marlene as he was.

She seemed somewhat relieved to see him there "Jack... Marlene called for you?"

"Yes... Jane, you know what this is about?"

"What you been waiting for" she got closer and whispered into his ear "get over with this and go to the room, I saved up some food for you. We need to discuss this, okay?"

"What...?"

"She'll tell you" Jane interrupted him and walked away while signaling her brother to go into the office "and please do something about the smell" she said before dissapearing around the corner.

Jack smelled his shirt before going in, it was good enough for him.

This was the second time he walked into that office, the first being the day he became a firefly. Although nothing really changed since then, his eyes wondered around the room as if it was the first time.

Paperwork, a bed, a clock and a desk; that was all someone needs to run an armed militia, this room was testament of that.

He found Marlene behind her desk, writing over a map of the quarantine zone

"You are...?" She asked him.

"Emm... Jack... Jordan... 000341"

Marlene opened a drawer from her desk and took a piece of paper from within it.

"What I'm about to show you is a secret" she looked up at him "do you understand what that means?"

"I do"

There was a short message written on the page:

_Raleigh, North Carolina_

_Infected ambush. Lost 4. Need 4._

He understood then why Marlene called for him. In the situation the fireflies were in at the moment, Marlene couldn't afford to lose nothing but the bottom of the barrel.

He left the note on the desk, next to the map, with a sigh, not really knowing how to fell at the moment.

"You want me to go to that place?"

"Our presence in the area is minimal, a dozen people" she left the pencil she was holding on the map to focus on him entirely "they need that number to function correctly and, although the timing is horrible... I can afford the loss"

"It's this... really necessary?" Leaving Boston was not what he had in mind, specially considering he would be outside with only three more people, which was an intimidating thought for him.

"It's a small step you'd for the greater good"

Although that was the kind of preachy sentence Marlene kept repeating all the time, he took it at face value.

He placed his sweaty palms at both sides of his body.

"Then I'll leave whenever you say"

"Good" she grabbed the pencil once again "you'll be given more details leater"

Taking that as a queue to leave, he turned around and left.

He didn't think much as he made his way back to his room.

This was what he wanted, he keot telling to himself. Supporting the cause directly, and this was his first step.

A big fucking step.


	44. Unstable Situation

"Luke, I want to be honest with you" Ryan eyes left the map of Jackson and looked up at the young boy by the door "Not knocking before coming in is dangerous these days, I could have shoot you"

"I'm sorry... I..."

"What do you want?" His mind went back to the map on the bed, cracking Jackson's code was proving to be a challenge without counting with the element of surprise._ 'At least they don't know we're just a dozen out here_'.

"You've been locked in here for almost two days, people are worried you don't..."

"...know what I'm doing?"

"No! Eh... yes. Hunting is not enough to sustain us and Jackson could be dangerous"

"Good, honesty. Well, tell people I'm receiving suggestions. If they have nothing, then tell them to shut their hole and let me think in peace"

"Aiden is..."

"Tell Toby he's in charge for now, then"

Luke stood there, dumbfounded "what!?"

"One man can't do everything, so while I look for a way to get what we need from Jackson. Toby will manage the group" Aiden was a rabid dog who needed a leash. "If Aiden has any problem, tell him to consult with Toby"

Luke seemed disappointed by what he was saying "at least you have something?"

"Not right now, but as long as everyone stays calm, that shouldn't matter... until winter comes along, then we're fucked"

"Man, this is when everything crumbles" he took a step out of the room, still holding the doorknob "that guy is a fucking cancer, you know"

"Aiden will have to accept the truth; I'm better, and his friends know it"

Luke seemed disgruntled by the way Ryan talked about them as 'his friends', but nevertheless he closed the door and left the former firefly alone. Ryan heard his footsteps as he walked away.

When the front door slammed shut, Ryan looked down at the map.

He stared at it, his mind completely blank, for what felt like an eternity.

"Cancer" he said out loud, recalling what Luke said about Aiden. His mind then drifted to the disease, and from there to Jackson.

He was having something; not an idea, but the beggining of an idea. It would take some time to determine if it was plausible. But after being clueless for so long, having a rough sketch of a plan felt really good.


	45. Fireflies (Part 10): Last Summer Morning

Toby woke up late at night. It was a common occurrence, there was a lot of stress in that building.

The military was losing its patience, over a decade worth of confrontations were coming to an end, and not a happy one. Marlene knew it, everyone knew it.

No one in Boston wanted to deal with the fireflies anymore, which meant less supplies. The situation was not sustainable.

Toby thought about this as he drifted off to sleep. But he didn't get to sleep, someone opened door behind him , a dim light poured into the room.

"Toby" Ryan called for him. It was probably early in the morning "wake up"

At first, he didn't think there was something wrong with this. Maybe it was a drill or he overslept. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized something was off.

He yawned, standing up to face Ryan.

When Toby saw him, it clicked. The dark blue light coming in through the door was enough to see he was carrying a backpack; and instead of the usual firefly uniform, he was wearing a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Ryan!" He said "I thought you were leaving today"

"I AM leaving today" he responded, turning the lights on, blinding the recently awoken firefly "We had a problem"

"What is it?" Toby said as he looked for his uniform among his belongings.

"So. I woke up a couple of hours ago, barely slept actually. Took some time getting everything ready, it's a long way after all. Went downstairs to the entrance, sat down and waited for the rest" Ryan walked towards the bed and sat down "Jack and Jane joined me soon after, we stayed there for a little while. And we waited, and waited, and waited..."

"Riley"

His superior gave a single clap, apparently happy thay Toby could connect the dots "exactly! I looked around and went 'where the fuck is Riley!?' So I did the only thing I could do, I went to her room"

"She wasn't there?"

"Fucking empty! Poof! Gone" Ryan gave a heavy sigh and looked up at Toby "What I'm basically trying to say; and believe me, there's no easy way of saying this; is... I want you to come with us"

"Eh...?" Toby felt his blood rushing out of his head, blurring his vision and making him stumble.

"Now, please, hear me out" Ryan rested a hand on his shoulder, partly to keep him from passing out. "I need someone I can trust and you are the first one that came to mind"

"Ryan..." Toby took a step away from him and scanned the room, his belongings were scattered everywhere "I... I need time"

"Sure, sure. I can allow myself to lose a couple of minutes" Ryan gave him a pat on the shoulder, walking past him towards the door "I'll be wainting downstairs"

"Ryan..."

"Orders, Toby" Ryan said right before as the door slammed shut.

He was left alone in the room, sweating profusely as he looked around, with his mind completely blank, processing what Ryan told him and what it meant.

* * *

The sun was coming out, light pouring into the repurposed building. Right next to the front door, Jack and Jane were waiting for Ryan to come back. While Jane remained still with her arms crossed and leaning against the wall; her brother was crouched next to her feet, taking note of every single item in his backpack, scratching his head.

"The kitchen?" She suggested from above.

"I told you already, everything was here last night" he responded, failing to hide his frustration.

"Books don't grow legs, you know"

"Might as well..." Jack stood up, nothing could go just fine, there's always something "Fucking great"

"You'll find another one, eventually"

"It was my favorite one" He looked down at the backpack, from there he could see part of the cover of 'No pun intended Vol I' and Vol III next to it. Volume II was gone, though. Poof. Gone. "Just fucking fantastic"

"C'mon, cheer up" Jane said "we have a long day ahead of us, we'll need to stay focused"

"Got it" Jack looked at her, finding his sister's grim expression upseting. Remaining silent, both siblings stood still, alone.

Jane broke the silence "We're leaving this place" she was talking more to herself than to him, but either way he nodded.

"You regret anything?"

"Why you ask?" she inquired.

"Well, you've been clear before about the fireflies..."

"Jack" she smiled towards him "if you're fine, I'm fine" but he saw through, she was not fine with this, she's not fine with any of this.

He didn't have time to say anything else.

"Hey, guys" Ryan, with a smirk on his face, made his way towards them "change of plans, Toby's coming with us"

"Marlene approved it?" Jane was quick to ask.

"No... but we'll be far away when she finds out"

"And Riley?"

He dismissed the question with a wave of his hand "That's Marlene's problem to sort out"

"Does she even know?"

He shrugged, not bothering to answer the question.

The room had an orange glow at the moment, Ryan looked outside for a moment and sighed "It's late"

As if those words were his cue, Toby passed through the same door Ryan passed through a moment before. Holding nothing but his backpack and wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, he joined the rest of the group "I'm ready"

Ryan's face lit up for a second, probably relieved things were working as intended this time "Okay, listen up" all eyes focused on him "As you probably know, this is no walk in the park. There are over 700 miles from here to Raleigh, and every single step we take from the moment we leave the perimeter is going to be a dangerous one, so no playing around" he looked at each one of them in the eye, making sure they understood he was not joking around "Okay then, let's go"

Jack, Jane and Toby followed him outside.

Once out, Jack looked up at the men on top of the wall separating them from the city in ruins; one of them, the youngest looking, whose name he couldn't remember, came down the ladder and aproached Ryan.

"You're late, Ryan" The guard said as he wrote something down in a notepad he was carrying.

"I'm aware"

"Okay... there are four of you, gone for good" he made a signal to the other guards, which came down to unlock the gate.

As the men worked, Ryan glanced at the notebook "can I?" The guard handed it over after hesitating for a second.

Jack peeked at it:

_2200: SHIFT_

_2300: NO NEWS_

_0000 : NO NEWS_

_0100: NO NEWS (BORING NIGHT? I SAY YES)_

_0140: BANGING SOUTH (INFECTED BACK AT IT?)_

_0150: SOUTH CLEAR (EVEN THEM GET TIRED EVENTUALLY)_

_0200: BACK TO NORMAL_

_0300: NO NEWS_

_0400: NO NEWS_

_0500: RALEIGH GROUP (?)_

_0510: NOT SHOWING UP, GUYS?_

_0600: RALEIGH GROUP LATE._

_0620: RALEIGH GROUP (4 OUT FOR GOOD)_

_0700:_

_0800: SHIFT_

"An occupied man, eh?"

"Some have it worse" the loud, grave sound of the gate opening behind him caught his attention "Okay, we don't like to keep the door open for longer than necessary, so..."

"I'm on it" he turned around to face his little group "okay, guys, remember: it's no game out there" one by one, they nodded in agreement "Let's go, then"

Jack didn't feel anxious as he expected. Although he was leaving the only place he'd known, he was no stranger to harsh situations. He spent over a third of his life on the streets, after all, with no food, no water and no shelter. This couldn't be worse than that, not with Ryan in charge. Jane also seemed to have this same thoughts in her mind. Although she was not fond of their new leader, she recognized him as a capable man.

They left the wall behind, and made their way south, away from the headquarters, away from Boston and away from the QZ.

* * *

A/N: I've been really busy lately, I'm not writing as much as I'd like. Hopefully there'll not be breaks this long between chapters in the future.


End file.
